Singer Britney Spears Killed in Car Accident

October 6, 2001 Posted: 21:56 PM EDT (0156 GMT)

Popular musician Britney Spears was pronounced dead Saturday evening as a result of wounds caused by a car accident. The status of the other passengers in the vehicle is not known at this time.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) --A car accident Saturday evening has cost the life of Britney Spears, teen pop music sensation, and has placedfellow passenger and musician Justin Timberlake in critical condition at Los Angeles County Hospital.

Spears and Timberlake were driving through the Los Angeles area late Saturday as both enjoyed a brief moment away from their busy touring and recording schedules when, according to eyewitness reports, their car, a rented Porsche 911, veered suddenly across six lanes of traffic and into a concrete barrier.

Motorists at the scene reported that Spears was ejected from the vehicle at impact and flew into opposing traffic,where she was caught under the wheels of at least one other vehicle before traffic could stop. Timberlake remainedsafely in the damaged vehicle.

"It was horrible, absolutely horrible," said one witness to the scene, "she was thrown around on the road like a ragdoll. We stopped and ran to help but it was obvious there was nothing we could do."

Authorities pronounced Spears dead at the scene, while Timberlake was rushed to emergency surgery to treatinternal bleeding.

The cause of the accident is still officially unknown, but witnesses on the scene have told CNN that Timberlake,who was behind the wheel of the vehicle, may have been under the influence of controlled substances, and that Spearsmay have been engaged in activities that may have distracted him from the road.

"It's too early to say at this point what may have caused the accident," said an officer at the scene, "it appears thatthe driver lost control of the vehicle suddenly, but we're still determining why that happened."

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