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3 Killed After BMW Slams Into Studio City Pizzeria, Bursts Into Flames [UPDATED]

Photo by Shawn Kaye via LAFD on Flickr

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Two men and a woman celebrating their friend's 21st birthday were killed almost instantly this morning after the car they were in crashed into a Studio City pizzeria and burst into flames.

The BMW flew off Ventura Boulevard and Tujunga Avenue, hit trees and sheared a natural gas line that incinerated the car, according to City News Service. The crash happened around 3:35 am, and it took 52 firefighters 23 minutes to put out the fire.

Friends told KTLA that everyone in the car had been celebrating a friend's 21st birthday and they were headed to an after-party at the driver's house. The woman in the car had reportedly flown in from New York. The names of the victims haven't been released, but all of them were in their 20s.

One friend said that he was hesitant to take his keys away from his friend although he knew he had been drinking—something he now regrets. "Something inside of me said he's an adult, he'll get there, but the result is very unfortunate that he didn't," Alexander Polansky told KTLA.

UPDATE 9/10/12: More Details About Victims of 'very violent, very volatile' Deadly Crash Into Studio City Pizzeria

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