3 Die as Truck Hits Other Rig, Skids Into Crew Fixing Freeway

At least three people were killed Thursday after a big-rig truck sideswiped another large truck on a downhill grade of Interstate 80, ripped through a freeway work crew and smashed into a two-ton flatbed truck before bursting into flames.

The California Highway Patrol said two others were “missing and unaccounted for” nearly three hours after the crash, which occurred in the westbound lanes near this Sierra Nevada town about 60 miles east of Sacramento.

The crash site was strewn with smashed and burnt debris, including the scorched shell of the big rig, the wreckage of the flatbed, a large compressor, a light pickup truck and other road equipment. Traffic, which had backed up after the crash, was diverted through a nearby off ramp and was moving smoothly by early afternoon.

CHP spokesman Don Marker said the crash scene was sealed to await a special investigative team from Sacramento. The dead included the driver of the big rig and two road workers.

The second truck, a transport vehicle for Thrifty’s, was not damaged and its driver was uninjured.

Marker said the big rig tried to pass the Thrifty’s vehicle on the right in a closed lane, then lightly sideswiped it and was forced into the work crew on the bridge over Alta Road.

As workers jumped from the bridge, the rig crashed into the flatbed and exploded. The flatbed smashed into a compressor which, in turn, struck the pickup.

The names of the victims were not immediately released.