15 People Injured in 63-Vehicle Freeway Pileup

Heavy fog and wet pavement were blamed for a 63-vehicle pileup in the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass on Monday morning. Fifteen people were injured, one seriously.

The crash, one of two big weather-related accidents Monday in the Inland Empire, occurred about 8:25 a.m. when vehicles heading down the steep incline just below the Cajon Summit traveled into a heavy fog bank and slowed suddenly, California Highway Patrol spokesman Robert Velasco said.

In short order, 58 cars and five big-rig trucks slammed into one another, jamming vehicles into and beneath one another and jackknifing the big-rigs.

The cause of the crash was under investigation, but Velasco said that the fog, wet roadway and motorists driving too fast for the conditions all seemed to contribute to it.

Two people were airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, Velasco said. One had life-threatening injuries.

Seven others were taken to nearby hospitals by ambulances, and another six complained of minor injuries but were not hospitalized, Velasco said.

The CHP initially reported that more than 100 vehicles were involved in the crash, but that number turned out to include passersby who pulled over to help and whose vehicles were incorrectly assumed to be part of the crash, Velasco said.

The southbound lanes of the freeway were closed for about four hours.

Monday afternoon, a second chain-reaction crash, this one involving 22 vehicles, occurred on westbound Interstate 10 in Colton.

CHP Officer Kevin Haney said eight people were injured, one seriously, in the pile-up that involved five separate collisions over a quarter-mile stretch of the freeway.

He said the crashes were triggered by motorists driving too fast in rain.