WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- Police and firefighters responded to the scene of a fiery crash in Southeast that killed two women, including 16 year old Tiashah Branham. Officials tell 9 NEWS NOW a car struck a power pole on Southern Avenue near United Medical Center around 4:30 a.m. The violent crash caused the vehicle to catch fire with the two victims still inside. Pete Piringer, spokesman for DC Fire and EMS, says the department had units at the hospital who heard the crash and called it in to dispatch. The rescue squad quickly responded to the scene and put out the flames. The two occupants of the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. A nursing assistantwho witnessed the collision claims the vehicle was racing another car just before the crash. Tasha Mattison says, "They were speeding, two cars and the other car just left those people there. It was so sad. Nothing could be done these people burned up it's totally senseless."James Blue was nearby and says he saw the two cars racing. " I saw two cars blazing past. It crashed and exploded."Witnesses also say they saw a police cruiser in the vicinity but it's Metropolitan Police policy not to give chase if there is drag racing going on.Southern Avenue was shut down between 13th and 19th Streets.9NEWS NOW'S Delia Goncalves spoke to the victim's grandmother who said police broke the news to the family later that morning. She said Tiashah's mother spoke to her last at 11:30pm and told her daughter to come home. She was just 5 minutes from the house when that deadly crash occured.
Tiashah was a student at the Friendship Collegiate Academy in NE Washington. This is the second tragedy for her family, Tiashah's older brother was killed in the area in 2006./>