SAN CLEMENTE : Truck Overturns on I-5, Blocks 3 Lanes
A semi-trailer truck loaded with toilet paper overturned Wednesday morning on Interstate 5, blocking three lanes of traffic for four hours, the California Highway Patrol said.
The truck’s driver, Porfirio Hernandez, 33, and his passenger, Rudy Garcia, 25, both of Los Angeles, escaped with only minor injuries because they were wearing seat belts, CHP Officer Rick Soto said. Hernandez and Garcia were treated at Samaritan Hospital in San Clemente for bruises.
Hernandez told officers that he fell asleep at the wheel of his semi-trailer truck about 6:30 a.m., while driving south on Interstate 5 just south of the Camino de Estrella exit.
The truck drifted into the center divider, destroying about 200 feet of fence, then overturned, blocking all but the outside lane of the freeway, Soto said. The toilet paper did not spill.
Freeway lanes were reopened by 10:30 a.m.
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