Truck Carrying Oranges Overturns, Blocks Anaheim Freeway for 2 Hours
A tractor-trailer truck rolled over Saturday on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim, spilling a load of oranges and shutting down the highway for more than two hours.
No one was injured in the 3:45 p.m. accident just east of Imperial Highway, but thousands of motorists were stranded on the freeway until the mess was cleaned up shortly before 6 p.m.
Some drivers resorted to taking side streets to get around the crash, but the majority waited it out while crews cleared the freeway, authorities said.
A California Highway Patrol spokesman said the accident apparently occurred when a car blew a tire, swerved into the big rig, then ricocheted down an embankment.
Jose Luis Luivano, 24, of Escondido lost control of the truck, which swung across traffic and overturned onto its side, spilling the load of oranges across the pavement, the CHP spokesman said.
The driver of the car that triggered the accident fled the scene afterward, the spokesman said.
Authorities had been unable to identify the man, who was apparently unhurt, by late Saturday night.
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