LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A speeding Ferrari sports car split in half as it slammed into a streetlight pole in a wealthy suburb south of Los Angeles, killing the drives and injuring a passenger, authorities said Wednesday.

    The accident occurred soon after Tuesday midnight on a street in Newport Beach, with the impact of the crash breaking the high-performance Italian sports car in half and leaving its front portion crushed by the light pole.

    Police said the car was apparently traveling at a high rate of speed, and it left the roadway, hit the curb and took out a light pole.

    The driver, a male, was declared dead at the scene by firefighters, while his passenger, a female, was ejected in the crash and taken to a hospital following the accident. Her condition was not immediately known.

    The car appeared to be a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, an all-aluminum V12 with a top speed of over 320 kilometers per hour and a price tag of about 300,000 dollars, police said.

    Newport Beach, a Pacific coastal town about 60 kilometers south of Los Angeles, is considered one of the wealthiest communities in the United States.