100 car pileup on Calif. freeway kills 2, injures dozens
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Micky Padilla of Porterville and his family were about 20 minutes away from reaching a baptism when they heard the sound of metal screeching.
Padilla hit the brakes when a trailer hauling turkeys swerved in front of them, sending feathers across the windshield. They rear-ended a Nissan Maxima and the car stopped next to the center divide.
Two people were killed and dozens injured in the massive pileup Saturday morning involving more than 100 cars and trucks, the California Highway Patrol said. Officials identified one victim as Travis Rogers, 26, and a 5-year-old boy, who were traveling in separate vehicles.
CHP Officer Paul Solorzano Jr. described the scene as "something out of a movie, walking up and seeing all the cars mangled and crushed."
Officials arrested 61-year-old Morris Taylor of San Antonio on misdemeanor drunken driving charges, but the cause of the wreck is under investigation and may take months to determine, said CHP Officer Kirk Arnold.
"He has not been said to have been the cause of (the crash), he is just a person who was involved in the collision who was taken in for DUI," Arnold said.
Rescuers had to extract several people trapped in the wreckage, and paramedics transported more than three dozen patients to the hospital with injuries, Fresno City Fire Department spokesman Ken Shockley said.
The freeway's northbound lanes were shut down as investigators worked to determine the cause of the crash, but were reopened at about 9:30 p.m. Traffic backed up for miles south of the wreckage.
Two of the big rigs leaked 90 gallons of diesel fuel onto the freeway when their fuel tanks ruptured, but the diesel was contained.
Cindy Ramirez, 21, of Selma, said her purple Mazda pickup truck was rear-ended as she was driving to her job washing windows in Shaver Lake.
"Everybody was trying to miss everybody, but it was impossible not to get hit," Ramirez said. "I'm fine physically, but I keep thinking about all of the things that could have happened."
Thick seasonal fog known as "Tule fog" typically occurs in Central California in the late fall and winter. Two people died along a nearby stretch of fog-blanketed Highway 99 in an 87-vehicle pileup in 2002.
Padilla hit the brakes when a trailer hauling turkeys swerved in front of them, sending feathers across the windshield. They rear-ended a Nissan Maxima and the car stopped next to the center divide.
Two people were killed and dozens injured in the massive pileup Saturday morning involving more than 100 cars and trucks, the California Highway Patrol said. Officials identified one victim as Travis Rogers, 26, and a 5-year-old boy, who were traveling in separate vehicles.
CHP Officer Paul Solorzano Jr. described the scene as "something out of a movie, walking up and seeing all the cars mangled and crushed."
Officials arrested 61-year-old Morris Taylor of San Antonio on misdemeanor drunken driving charges, but the cause of the wreck is under investigation and may take months to determine, said CHP Officer Kirk Arnold.
"He has not been said to have been the cause of (the crash), he is just a person who was involved in the collision who was taken in for DUI," Arnold said.
Rescuers had to extract several people trapped in the wreckage, and paramedics transported more than three dozen patients to the hospital with injuries, Fresno City Fire Department spokesman Ken Shockley said.
The freeway's northbound lanes were shut down as investigators worked to determine the cause of the crash, but were reopened at about 9:30 p.m. Traffic backed up for miles south of the wreckage.
Two of the big rigs leaked 90 gallons of diesel fuel onto the freeway when their fuel tanks ruptured, but the diesel was contained.
Cindy Ramirez, 21, of Selma, said her purple Mazda pickup truck was rear-ended as she was driving to her job washing windows in Shaver Lake.
"Everybody was trying to miss everybody, but it was impossible not to get hit," Ramirez said. "I'm fine physically, but I keep thinking about all of the things that could have happened."
Thick seasonal fog known as "Tule fog" typically occurs in Central California in the late fall and winter. Two people died along a nearby stretch of fog-blanketed Highway 99 in an 87-vehicle pileup in 2002.