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Truck crash in tunnel kills at least three

Two of many trucks burn in the truck lanes of Interstate 5 between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles early Saturday. At least three people were killed in the pileup, and the search for bodies continues. (Associated Press photo / The Spokesman-Review)
Los Angeles Times The Spokesman-Review
Two of many trucks burn in the truck lanes of Interstate 5 between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles early Saturday. At least three people were killed in the pileup, and the search for bodies continues. (Associated Press photo / The Spokesman-Review)

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The fiery Interstate 5 truck crash that killed at least three people south of here has severed the state’s main north-south transportation artery for an indefinite period, authorities said Saturday.

Officials guessed that southbound lanes could reopen as early as Tuesday but were unwilling to speculate about the northbound lanes.

The chain-reaction crash and fire that closed the freeway, which carries 225,000 vehicles a day, occurred Friday night in a southbound tunnel used primarily by truckers. The tunnel passes under the main freeway, which is supported by the tunnel’s concrete roof.

Fire burned throughout the day Saturday, and explosions rocked the tunnel. Molten trucks that had been reduced to hulks blocked it. Chunks of debris and cargo, including produce, littered the road. A woman waited hopefully to learn if her trucker husband had been trapped inside.

Heat was so intense that firefighters and other officials could not explore the tunnel very far beyond its mouths. They did not yet know the cause of the crash, how much damage was done to the tunnel walls and roof, or how long it would take for traffic to flow again on the eight-lane freeway overhead.

Coroner’s official Ed Winter said the three bodies that were recovered had not been identified. “We are methodically going through the wreckage vehicle by vehicle” looking for other bodies, he said.

Interstate 5 is of vital commercial importance, but detours and disruptions along its 1,381-mile length from the Mexican border to Canada have become increasingly common. Many have been attributed to steadily increasing traffic and a steady deterioration of roadways.

Fire, police and California Department of Transportation officials spent the day trying to assess damage to the concrete but were hampered by a continuing blaze in the tunnel’s center, and heavy smoke and high concentrations of carbon dioxide, particularly on the tunnel’s north, or uphill, end.

Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said he expected it would be this evening before firefighters were able to fully explore the 550-foot-long underpass just south of I-5’s intersection with the 14 Freeway.