May 18, 2008 12:33 pm US/Pacific
5-Car Crash Stalls Beach Traffic On The 10
SANTA MONICA
The good news is that no one was seriously injured. But the bad news? A five-car collision on the Santa Monica (10) Freeday Sunday caused horrific delays for people just trying to get to the beach.
And with heat hovering in the high 90s and low 100s, the last place people wanted to be was in stalled traffic on the freeway.
The beach-bound freeway was closed moments after the 11:40 a.m. collision when 5 cars slammed together at the western end of Interstate 10.
One car reportedly caught fire, and a person at the scene told a 911 operator that he could see children climbing out of the burning vehicle.
Early reports from the scene said that no one was seriously injured.
California Highway Patrol officers closed the freeway to all westbound
traffic at Cloverfield Boulevard.
Fire trucks were directed to enter the freeway by going the wrong direction on the Lincoln Boulevard offramp to reach victims.
By noon, westbound traffic had backed up past the San Diego (405 Freeway interchange.
Pico Boulevard and other nearby surface streets were also reported jammed, as Santa Monica police officers diverted traffic around the freeway back-up.
The 10 Freeway is the major link between Los Angeles and the Malibu and Pacific Palisades beaches.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
