Death toll from car accident in Iquique rises to 9

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IQUIQUE.- The death toll resulting from a head-on collision between two vehicles last night has risen to 9. The crash occurred along highway route A-1, two kilometers from the exit to Iquique's Diego Aracena airport.

According to reports from Bío Bío radio, a 4-year old girl identified as Carla Silva González died this morning at Ernesto Torres Galdames Hospital.

Only minutes earlier, 10 year-old Diego González González had become the accident's eighth fatal victim. At the scene of the tragedy, four people were killed on impact, while three others died shortly after the crash.

Officials also managed to identify another one of the fatal victims, whose name was previously unknown, as 22 year-old Claudio Cabrera Leal.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident, although initial conclusions indicate that it may have been the result of an illegal pass on the road.