Some Pileup Victims Remain Hospitalized

A few people remained hospitalized Sunday for injuries suffered in a string of accidents involving more than 100 vehicles on fog-shrouded Interstate 5, authorities said.

The massive pileup early Saturday claimed the life of an Irvine resident, Jeff Armando Pranoto, on his 18th birthday.

Pranoto, an Indonesian national who was a student at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, was involved in the first accident that set the scene for 13 chain-reaction collisions, said Sgt. Dennis Martinez of the California Highway Patrol’s Oceanside office.

Martinez, however, insisted that fog was not a factor in Pranoto’s fatal crash, adding that the Irvine student apparently fell asleep at the wheel after staying up all night in San Diego.

Wadiya Aryani, 18, a passenger in Pranoto’s car, also suffered injuries in the crash and was listed in good condition Sunday at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.

Martinez said the visibility was good when Pranoto’s car overturned after drifting up an embankment on the northbound side of the freeway. That was at 6:50 a.m. Saturday, but 15 to 20 minutes later, a ceiling of dense fog descended on the freeway, limiting visibility to about 20 feet, Martinez said.

Within a 40-minute period, there were 14 accidents involving about 100 vehicles.

Martinez said the accidents were caused mainly by motorists who were driving “too fast”--about 50 m.p.h.--in the blinding fog.

About 30 injured people who were taken to hospitals in north San Diego County and south Orange County have been released. Among those still hospitalized was Velma Cline, 77, of Carlsbad, who was listed in critical condition Sunday at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

A pregnant woman, whose name was not provided, remained in stable condition at Samaritan Medical Center in San Clemente, a nursing supervisor said.

The CHP was still investigating the pileups and so far has not issued any citations to motorists involved in the crashes, Martinez said.