2 teens Vicente Huerta, Ubana Hernandez-Molina killed in suburban West Palm Beach crash

Two teenagers are dead after a pickup truck they were riding in crashed into a tree early Saturday moing on a wet, winding suburban road in West Palm Beach.

The 17-year-old driver, Luis A. Betancourt of Lake Worth, lost control of the Ford F-150 truck as he attempted to negotiate a curve on Lake Osboe Drive at 5:02 a.m., the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office reported.

"The tires didn't get the traction they needed on the road correctly," a somber Betancourt said in a telephone interview.

The truck slid sideways across an incoming lane, uprooting a series of wooden fence posts as it tumbled into the dirt shoulder of the road, according to the vehicle homicide investigations report. It slammed into a large tree, killing 18-year-old Vicente Huerta and 16-year-old Ubana Heandez-Molina, both of West Palm Beach, who were two of three backseat passengers, the report said.

"It was raining, drizzling. The road we were driving on had a curve," Betancourt said. "The tires didn't get traction. I started swerving. I was trying to drive the truck straight, but it only made it worse. I hit a couple of posts, then I hit the tree."

A 17-year-old passenger in the truck's left rear seat, Johan Martinez-Garcia, was transported to JFK Medical Center with serious injuries, the accident report said. Neither the driver nor a front-seat passenger, 18-year-old Amando Nava, were injured, it said.

"My friends called me. They wanted a ride home. I picked them up and we were headed home," said Betancourt, who was driving his father's truck.

The accident report indicated alcohol or drugs may have played a role in the crash.

"I only had one beer," Betancourt said.

Charges are pending as deputies continue investigating the cause of the crash.