Two killed near Ardmore when car leaves road, flips five times

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) _ Two men from Texas are dead today after their car left I-35 and flipped five times in southern Oklahoma. <br/><br/>The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 18-year-old driver Rene Mercado-Balderas

Sunday, August 1st 2004, 5:25 pm

By: News On 6

ARDMORE, Okla. (AP) _ Two men from Texas are dead today after their car left I-35 and flipped five times in southern Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 18-year-old driver Rene Mercado-Balderas of Gainesville, Texas, and passenger Santos Juan Popoca-Popoca of Dallas were killed in the accident Sunday morning.

The highway patrol says Mercado-Balderas was headed south on Interstate 35 around 2:20 a-m when his 1997 Pontiac coupe left the right side of the roadway in Love County.

OHP says the car went into a broadslide before flipping five times.

Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Two other male passengers were hospitalized in Ardmore with head injuries.