A San Francisco Bay Area bride was killed Saturday, when her bridal party's limo caught fire on the San Mateo-Hayward bridge.
31-year-old Neriza Fojas and four others in her bachelorette party died when the white stretch Lincoln went ablaze. The driver and four others survived: the former emerged from the car unscathed, while the latter were treated for smoke inhalation, according to CNN.
Neriza had plans for a marriage ceremony in the Philippines, following her legal marriage in the United States.
She and her bridal party were en route to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Francisco for her bridal shower, where her husband awaited her arrival.
The driver told officials that he was driving the group over the bridge when one of the yelled through the partition that there was smoke coming from the trunk, reported San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault to AP.
When the driver pulled over, the passenger compartment was already swallowed up by flames.
Firefighters extracted five bodies from the limo that were all situated by the window separating front from back.
"My guess would be they were trying to get away from the fire and use that window opening as an escape route," Foucrault said.
Roxanne Guzman, who was driving with her husband and brother at about 10 p.m. PST on Saturday, was shocked by the scene at the side of the road, she told CNN.
"The flames were gigantic," she said. "[They] were so big and radiating so much heat that I could feel the heat off of my face, and I was in my car the entire time."
Guzman also said that the survivors, standing on the shoulder, were all dazed by shock. Three of them were crying.
The cause of the fire is still unclear, but officials say the blaze began in the trunk, then spread so quickly that the women sitting near the boot had little time to exit the vehicle.
LimoStop Inc. has issued a statement in which they say they are "deeply saddened" by these horrific deaths.
"LimoStop Inc. will do everything possible to investigate and assist authorities in determining the cause of this fire, in order to help bring forth answers and provide closure to the victims and their families," they said.
