2 Children Killed on California Freeway After Running into Traffic to Retrieve Fallen Luggage

Amy Monserrat Beltran and Alan Gerardo Aguilar.Photo:Go Fund Me

Go Fund Me

Two children were killed when they ran out into traffic on a busy North San Diego County freeway on Sunday, authorities said.

Their mother, Sandra Ortiz, 33, had pulled the car over on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes of SR-78, just east of Mar Vista, so that the kids could exit the vehicle, California Highway Patrol toldseveral news outlets.

A representative for CHP did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for further comment.

The children’s father, Miguel Aguilar, and an aunt told the news station that four other children were in the Yukon at the time of the accident.

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Aguilar said his family of eight has been homeless and sleeping in the car. Ortiz and the six kids were on their way to buy a present for him for Father’s Day.

The father added that he does not hold his wife accountable for Amy and Alan’s deaths.

“She’s my wife in my heart,” Aguilar said about Ortiz, whom he has been with for 13 years. “I love her to death. I hope that one day she sees this and knows that I do love her. And I don’t hold anything against her for the loss of our kids. It’s not her fault.”

AGoFundMehas been set up in memory of the children; it had raised about $13,000 as of Tuesday morning.

source: people.com