Tapia Relatives killed en route to hospital.. NEWS

In a tragic twist to Johnny Tapia's drug overdose, two of his family members were killed in a car crash, apparently en route to visit the five-time world champion in hospital.Brother-in-law Robert Gutierrez, 39, and nephew Ben Garcia, 23, were killed early Tuesday morning when their car overturned on a New Mexico interstate and they were ejected from the vehicle, police said.New Mexico State Police Lt Rick Anglada said that the crash was believed to have occurred on US Interstate 550 at 2.30am local time on Tuesday but was not discovered until almost six hours later.

Anglada said relatives told police that Gutierrez and Garcia were family members who were believed to be en route to see Tapia, 40, in Albuquerque Presbyterian Hospital, where he has been since being admitted Monday for an apparent cocaine overdose.Anglada did not know if Tapia had been informed of the accident, which occurred approximately three hours north of Albuquerque, inside the Colorado border.

The officer said both men were dead at the scene and speed was a factor.According to Anglada, the car was travelling southbound and began to veer off the right hand side of the road. The driver overcorrected, bringing the tail end of the vehicle swinging around.

The car began to flip, tossing Gutierrez and Garcia - who were not believed to be wearing seat belts - from the vehicle. It vaulted a fence establishing right of way and went across the northbound direction, overturning and tumbling down an embankment on the opposite side of the interstate, Anglada said.Anglada said the speed limit in the area was 55 miles per hour. He added that some local residents heard the crash but assumed it to have occurred in a nearby parking lot.

On Tuesday, Tapia - a five-time former champion in the super-flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight divisions - was upgraded from critical to serious condition.A hospital spokesman gave no timetable for his possible release.