Update: 1 Dead in 4 Car Accident in UTC

Update: This article first posted at 11:32 a.m., Oct. 23, 2013.

Motorists running red lights on Wednesday caused unrelated traffic accidents that killed one person and injured five others near Westfield UTC mall, tangling traffic in the busy area, authorities reported.

The more serious of the two wrecks occurred shortly before 10:30 a.m., when the driver of a westbound Toyota Prius failed to yield for a stoplight at Genesee Avenue and La Jolla Village Drive in University City, according to San Diego police.

The hybrid-electric car rammed into an Audi sedan and a Volkswagen Golf, then hit a Nissan truck before all four vehicles skidded to a halt across the traffic lanes.

The driver of the Volkswagen died at the scene of the pileup despite medics' attempts to resuscitate him. His female passenger suffered serious injuries, while the motorists in the Prius and Audi had minor injuries, SDPD Officer Frank Cali said. The driver of the pickup was unhurt.

The accident occurred less than 90 minutes after a 63-year-old woman ran a red light on Genesee Avenue near Interstate 5, crashing her southbound 1990 Toyota Corolla into a 2011 GMC exiting a driveway at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, police reported.

The collision left the driver of the Toyota with serious leg trauma and the 41-year-old woman behind the wheel of the other car with superficial injuries, Sgt. Ray Battrick said.

Officers closed traffic lanes and issued a congestion alert for both locations while emergency crews tended to the injured and investigators documented evidence.

Intoxication was not believed to be a factor in either accident, police said.

—City News Service