Takata air bags claim 16th victim

UNITED STATES: A 50-year-old woman who died after a car wreck last month in California is the 11th American victim of Takata Corp’s defective air bag inflators.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed the woman’s death yesterday.

Up to five people also may have been killed by the air bags in Malaysia, bringing the number of deaths globally to as many as 16.

The agency said the woman, identified in coroner’s records as Delia Robles, was driving a 2001 Honda Civic.

Riverside County police said a man making a left turn in a Chevrolet pickup truck was hit head-on by the Civic. The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she died from her injuries, the statement said.

Takata air bags can inflate with too much force, which causes a metal canister to rupture and spew shrapnel into the vehicle. - AP