LOCAL : 3 Killed After Big Rig Overturns on Golden State in Burbank

Three people died this morning when a tractor-trailer traveling southbound on the Golden State Freeway in Burbank overturned, causing a multivehicle crash, police said.

The accident occurred just north of the freeway’s Verdugo Road exit about 10:40 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Monty Keifer said.

Police closed the roadway to traffic going both ways until 11:20 a.m., when they opened the northbound lanes. The southbound lanes were not expected to be reopened until at least 3 p.m., Keifer said.

The two-trailer truck was carrying tomatoes when it overturned, Keifer said. A motor home traveling southbound also became involved in the accident, bursting into flames, he said.

Keifer said he suspected that additional vehicles were involved in the crash. He said he did not know the identities of the three who died, which vehicles they were traveling in, or whether additional people were injured or killed.

At least 100 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from the truck’s tanks, Keifer said, prompting the CHP to dispatch a hazardous materials cleanup team. The CHP has also begun a special investigation because of the high number of fatalities in the crash, Keifer said.