OCEANSIDE -- Three people were injured in a head-on collision late Monday night, authorities said.

Firefighters responded to the crash on North River Road near Leon Street at 11:15 p.m., Oceanside fire Capt. Dave Parsons said. A sport utility vehicle going east had crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a four-door sedan, police said.

The SUV was on its side and the driver, who was alone in the vehicle, had gotten out, Parsons said. The sedan's driver was trapped inside the car, and it took several firefighters about 25 minutes to cut him out, the captain said.

Both drivers, men in their 20s, were taken by helicopter to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, Parsons said. A back-seat passenger in the sedan, a woman in her 20s, was taken by ambulance to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

The sedan's front-seat passenger, a young man, declined medical treatment, Parsons said.

North River Road was closed during the emergency response, and Oceanside police are investigating.