A morning runner passes by bouquets of flowers as they fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

People pass by a small memorial of candles, flowers, and notes as they lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach early on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, near where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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A heart candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A morning runner passes by bouquets of flowers as they fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Candles, flowers, and notes lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)



Early morning traffic passes by a memorial of candles, flowers, and notes as they lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, near where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bouquets of flowers fill the fence as a collage of photographs sits on the ground on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

People out for a morning walk stop to view a memorial and a collage of photographs at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)



A collage of photographs sits on the ground on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A heart candle and flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A woman stops to view a memorial and a collage of photographs at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday morning, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A blackened sidewalk left over from the deadly accident is just part of the scene as bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Candles, flowers, and notes lay at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)



A note with some flowers lay on a corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A sign, bouquets of flowers filling the fence, and a collage of photographs, are part of the scene on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Bouquets of flowers fill the fence on the corner at the intersection of Magnolia Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach on Friday, March 30, 2018, where three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit from behind by a suspected drunken driver. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)

Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)



Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)

Officials work the scene of a fatal traffic accident at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street on Thursday, March 29, 2018. (OnScene.TV)

Three Las Vegas residents were killed and a fourth person was badly injured early Thursday when the car they were riding in was hit by from behind by a suspected drunken driver on Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, police said.

All lanes of the highway were shut in the area for about seven hours after the fiery 1 a.m. collision.

Huntington Beach police officers arriving at the scene found a red Toyota engulfed in flames. Four people were inside when the car was hit, three of whom died at the scene. The other victim was taken to a trauma center, said Officer Angela Bennett, a department spokeswoman.

The car, which was stopped at Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia Street, burst into flames after being struck by a white Hyundai Sonata driven by 27-year-old Bani Duarte, authorities said.

Duarte, of San Clemente, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter. She was uninjured.

The names of the victims have not yet been released but Bennett said they were Las Vegas residents.

Alex Martinez, 20, said he witnessed the incident even before the crash starting with Duarte’s car swerving in the road.

Martinez, of Huntington Beach, was in a car with his friends returning from the gym when they saw the woman’s white vehicle swerving, at times speeding and hitting sidewalks.

“She went to the far right side of the lane and hit the sidewalk really bad and that’s when we decided to call the cops,” Martinez said Thursday.

He told police he believed it was a drunken driver going northbound on Pacific Coast Highway. He and his friends followed the woman’s car until it stopped on metered parking by Orange Street.

Martinez and his friends pulled up to Duarte and asked if she was okay, he said.

“I told her she hit two sidewalks back there and she said ‘Really? No way,'” he said. Martinez’s friends offered her a ride home. She turned them down and soon was off driving again.

As she approached Magnolia Street, he said, there was a red car stopped in a middle lane of the intersection. She braked but then sped up and hit the car which immediately caught fire, Martinez said.

Martinez said he and his friends reported the crash to police and saw someone leave the red car. He described the male as appearing to be unhurt.

“I think he was in shock because he walked towards us all confused, not really knowing what just happened,” he said. “So he sat down and we asked him if there were other people in the car and he said there was three more in the car.”

“The car was already in flames and the backseat doors were just crushed by the impact.”

Martinez said he and his friends and some others who stopped at the crash tried to help but couldn’t get to the people inside. Firefighters extinguished the blaze as Duarte remained in her car after the crash, he said.

“I felt powerless and guilty,” Martinez said.

He said he was told by officers on scene that the fatalities appeared to be teenagers. Some social media posts have also indicated the victims were young people visiting the area for spring break. Huntington Beach police did not release information about the ages or identities of the victims.

Martinez described the experience as traumatizing.

“Such young people dying in the worst possible way,” Martinez said. “They had their whole life ahead of them and for it to be taken away by a drunk driver is just awful.”