Vehicle Pileup on California Highway Leaves 2 Dead, 9 Injured

January 7th, 10:30 AM EST

By NEWSnet Digital Team

Interstate crash.

MBN

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (NEWSnet/AP) — A crash involving dozens of vehicles along a foggy stretch of Interstate 5 in southern California has left two people dead and nine injured.

The pileup involving 35 cars occurred west of Bakersfield, according to authorities. Kern County Fire Department spokesman Jim Calhoun told reporters visibility was 10 feet.

The crash, spread over about a half-mile, involved 17 passenger vehicles and 18 semi-trucks. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and nine others were hospitalized with minor injuries, authorities said.

“It was pretty chaotic when I first pulled up at the scene,” Calhoun said. “It was compressed natural gas, saddle tanks on the side of some the big rigs that were ruptured, so a lot of the bystanders that weren’t injured were trying to help people and were in a plume of natural gas so we had to deal with that first and get everyone evacuated from that area.”

California Department of Transportation said southbound lanes would remain closed overnight while crews cleared debris and tried to determine the cause of the crash.

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