By MOLLY DRYMAN

Staff Reporter

LULING — An Avondale man and Meraux woman both died as a result of a crash when one lost control of their vehicle during a heavy rainstorm.

Trooper Joseph Piglia, spokesman for the Louisiana State Police Troop B, said the crash occurred on US 90 in Luling.

&#8220The investigation revealed that a 1995 Dodge Dakota pick-up truck driven by Arvin Popham, 37, was traveling westbound on US 90 in the left lane,” Piglia said. &#8220For reasons unknown, Popham lost control of his vehicle during a heavy rain storm, and crossed over the raised median.”

The Dakota pick-up was rotating clockwise when it slid into the path of 53-year-old Catherine Carollo’s 1998 Honda Accord, which she was traveling eastbound on US 90 in the left lane, according to Piglia.

&#8220As the two vehicles collided, Carollo’s vehicle also began rotating clockwise to the left,” Piglia said.

&#8220Then both vehicles were struck by a third vehicle, a 1990 Jaguar X16, driven by Richard J. Deangelis, 53, of Houma, that was traveling eastbound on US 90 in the right lane.”

According to Piglia, Popham, Deangelis and Deangelis’s passenger were all wearing seatbelts. Carollo was not wearing a seatbelt.

Speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash, but toxicology results are pending on Popham and Carollo. Deangelis Intoxilyzer 500 breath test results were negative.

Deangelis’s passenger Pierre VanDoorne, 47, of Houma, was transported to Charity Hospital in Elmwood for treatment of minor injuries, according to Trooper Piglia.