Truck Flips Into Traffic on I-5; 2 Killed

A truck loaded with college students on a spring-break outing skidded out of control with a blown tire and cartwheeled into oncoming traffic on Interstate 5 in Castaic on Friday, killing two people and injuring six others.

The accident, which occurred about 6 p.m., left “bodies all over the roadway,” and closed three lanes of the northbound I-5 for at least two hours, said California Highway Patrol Officer Steve Munday.

Traffic was backed up more than eight miles behind the accident.

All five people in the truck--college students from Sonoma State University and Los Angeles Harbor College--were thrown from the vehicle. One of the passengers, a 21-year-old Los Angeles man, was killed. One was seriously injured, and three received minor to moderate injuries, the CHP said.

A 19-year-old Sebastopol resident driving alone in a 1989 Mustang on the interstate was killed when the oncoming truck flipped onto his car, Munday said. He died from severe head injuries.

The identities of the dead and injured were not immediately released, while authorities attempted to notify their families.

Munday said the crash occurred when the right rear tire of the four-wheel-drive Dodge truck blew out as it headed south on the freeway. The driver, a college student from San Pedro, lost control and the truck crossed the center lane and flipped onto the Mustang, Munday said.

The truck continued cartwheeling into oncoming vehicles, landing next on top of a Toyota Celica, Munday said.

The Celica driver, a Los Angeles woman, was trapped in her crushed car. She was cut out by a Los Angeles County Fire Department crew. She sustained moderate injuries.

Her passenger, a man, also sustained moderate injuries. Both were taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia.

Munday said there was no evidence that the truck driver had been speeding or drinking.

“There is no indication of anything except a tire blowout,” Munday said.