A Latino couple died at the scene of a collision at 6440 W. Hollywood Blvd., about two blocks west of Vine Street, around 9 p.m. Sunday, according to a Los Angeles Police Department statement.

Witnesses told broadcast outlets that the pedestrians were holding hands and walking in a crosswalk when a vehicle, which had been stopped for a red light, suddenly lurched forward and hit them.

Police had just started pursuing a motorist suspected of reckless driving when his car struck the man and a woman, both in their late 30s, said LAPD Officer Karen Smith. Both victims died at the scene.

“The bodies flew quite a ways, so rescuers were looking about a block away to find people who may have had other injuries,” said d’Lisa Davies of the Los Angeles Fire Department. —From MSNBC, July 15, 2008