Wrong-way driver, 2 others die in crash on Interstate 5 in Commerce

Three people were killed this morning and two injured in a head-on collision that shut down the southbound Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway in the City of Commerce for more than three hours, authorities said.

The crash just south of Slauson Avenue was reported around 3:10 a.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.

A 27-year-old man from Gardena driving a 2007 Toyota Yaris northbound in the southbound lanes struck a 1998 Nissan and died at the scene, Villalobos said. The Nissan’s driver, a 19-year-old woman from Anaheim, was also killed, as was one of her passengers, a 20-year-old woman from Anaheim, Villalobos said. Their names had not been released this morning, he said.

Two male passengers in the Nissan, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, both of Garden Grove, were taken to County-USC Medical Center with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening, Villalobos said. He said it was not clear whether they or the women they were riding with were wearing seat belts. No one was thrown from the cars, Villalobos said, but L.A. County firefighters had to rescue at least one victim trapped in a car.

Authorities closed the southbound lanes of the freeway during their initial investigation and reopened them at about 6:40 a.m., Villalobos said.

Investigators are still trying to determine where the Toyota’s driver entered the freeway and whether speed, alcohol or drugs were factors in the crash, Villalobos said.

 molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com