60 Freeway fully reopens after fatal multi-vehicle crash
All lanes of the 60 Freeway near South El Monte reopened Thursday afternoon, after a fatal multi-vehicle crash snarled the early-morning commute.
The freeway fully reopened just before 12:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
The California Highway Patrol opened three of five westbound lanes at Santa Anita Boulevard around 10:15 a.m. as crews continued the cleanup process. The crash, which involved three big rigs and eight other vehicles, was reported shortly after 5:40 a.m.
An unidentified 5-year-old girl was killed in the collision. She was among more than a dozen people injured in the crash, authorities said. Of those, five were critically injured, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Firefighters also had to extinguish two vehicle fires, authorities said.
Complicating cleanup efforts was an estimated 100 gallons of diesel fuel that spilled from an overturned tanker that came to rest in the center divider.
To keep the tanker from falling onto cars traveling westbound, firefighters had pushed it over, sending roughly 6,500 gallons of milk into a nearby storm drain, officials reported.
For breaking news in Los Angeles and throughout California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA. She can be reached at veronica.rocha@latimes.com
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