Wrong-way crash kills two on 5 Freeway in Santa Ana, snarls traffic for miles
A fatal crash involving a wrong-way driver temporarily shut down the northbound 5 Freeway in Santa Ana on Thursday morning, snarling traffic for hours before lanes were reopened, the California Highway Patrol said.
A Jaguar was spotted going southbound in the freeway’s northbound lanes just before 4 a.m., colliding moments later with a motorcyclist in the HOV lane just north of the 57 Freeway interchange, according to CHP dispatcher Samantha Brown.
Both the driver of the Jaguar and the motorcyclist were killed, Brown said.
Authorities shut down the northbound 5 just south of the 22 Freeway but reopened three lanes by 7 a.m.
An investigation into the crash is ongoing, officials said, and the identity of the victims has not been released.
Twitter: @JosephSerna
UPDATES:
7:10 a.m.: This article was updated with lanes reopening on the 5 Freeway.
This article was originally published at 6:15 a.m.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
