13 People Hurt In Freeway Pileup

Dozens of vehicles slammed together Saturday in a chain-reaction pileup on a rainy freeway, injuring 13 people, three critically.

About 20 vehicles collided over a quarter-mile stretch of the Santa Monica Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said. More than two dozen others spun out and swerved to avoid collisions, authorities said.

The pileup about five miles west of downtown began when the driver of a vehicle heading onto the freeway lost control and careened across lanes, authorities said.