2 die Bass Lake crash

A car veering off Road 222 and into Bass Lake sometime Tuesday night took the lives of the driver, 21-year-old Samuel Rosasco of Oakhurst and his 17-year-old passenger Karina Barnett of Ahwanee, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The 2006 Toyota was spotted by a passing motorist upside down in about 5 to 6 feet of water near the shore, about 7:30 on Wednesday morning.

Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

Members of the Madera County Sheriff’s Department dive team were deployed to recover the occupants from the submerged car.

The preliminary investigation indicates that time of the crash has not yet been determined. The Toyota was east bound on Road 22 west of Road 426 when for unknown reasons the driver lost control and struck an embankment before crossing both lanes and plunging about down 10 feet into a rocky cove and overturning in the shallow water, with only the top of the car’s tires showing. Neither occupant was wearing a seat belt at the time of crash, according to the CHP.

No other information is being released at this time. Toxicology reports are pending.