updated 1:52 p.m. EDT, Sun October 14, 2007
*
Three victims found in freeway pileup as search of debris ends*

    * Story Highlights
    * Bodies of three crash victims found in freeway tunnel north of Los
Angeles
    * Investigators find 28 commercial vehicles, one passenger vehicle
involved
    * Officials say they hope to reopen southbound lanes of Interstate 5
by Tuesday
    * It may be days before names of dead released; search of debris ends

SANTA CLARITA, California (AP) -- Firefighters finished removing charred
debris Sunday from a freeway tunnel where three people died in a fiery
pileup that could keep a major interstate shut down for days.
art.tunnel.ap.jpg

Interstate 5 is closed in both directions at the Newhall Pass as the
truck tunnel smolders Saturday.

Investigators determined 28 commercial vehicles and one passenger
vehicle were involved in the crash late Friday that killed three people
and injured at least 10, Deputy Fire Chief John Tripp said. The search
of the debris ended Sunday morning and confirmed no more fatalities.

With the large numbers of vehicles trapped inside the tunnel, "there was
a potential for a greater number of critical injuries, let alone
fatalities," Tripp said.

Officials hope to reopen the southbound lanes of the closed freeway by
Tuesday morning, but they have been hampered by concern about how many
repairs will have to be made for the tunnel to be safe. Video Watch what
firefighters were up against »

"Our goal is to get the roadway open as quickly as possible," said Will
Kempton, director of the California Department of Transportation.

The bodies of two crash victims were found early Saturday and a third
was found later in the day, authorities said. The dead were two adult
males and one child, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Jason Hurd.

The bodies of one man and the child were in the cab of a truck hauling
cantaloupe, which appeared to have hit a pillar outside the tunnel, a
fire official told The Associated Press on condition his name not be
used because he was not authorized to speak about the crash.

The other body was found in a truck about 12 feet short of the tunnel's
exit, said the official.

The exact ages of the victims were unknown. County coroner's
investigator Kelly Yagerlener said it could be several days before the
names of the dead were released.

Ten others suffered minor to moderate injuries.

The pileup in the southbound truck tunnel of Interstate 5 began about 11
p.m. Friday when two big rigs collided on the rain-slickened highway
about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. As crashes continued
throughout the 550-foot-long tunnel, five tractor-trailers burst into
flames, and the fire quickly spread. Photo See more photos of the inferno »

"There was an accident in front of me. I come to a stop and then they
just start hitting me, one right after another," trucker Tony Brazil
told reporters at the crash site.

"A couple drivers come over the top of the truck and [said], 'Get out of
here, let's get out of here,' so I got my wallet and my phone and I was
able to squeeze between that truck there and the wall," Brazil said.

The cause of the crash is being investigated.

The pileup snarled traffic for miles in all directions as motorists had
to navigate neighborhood streets and mountain roads to get around the
wreck. It took an hour to travel 100 yards on one street just down the
hill from the crash.

I-5 is a key route connecting Southern and Northern California as well
as a major commuter link between Los Angeles and its northern suburbs.
See a map of the interchange »

The affected stretch of freeway carries about 225,000 vehicles a day,
and there are likely to be huge traffic jams in the area if it is still
closed when people return to work Monday.

The tunnel, built in the 1970s, and its mix of curves and darkness has
long been regarded by truckers as one of the most dangerous areas of the
freeway.

"There's kind of a blind spot, so if you boogie around the bend too fast
and there's somebody stopped in the tunnel, it'll be 'boom-boom-boom',
Arthur Johnson, 45, of Buckeye, Arizona, told the Los Angeles Times.
advertisement

Truck driver Fausto Angelino said he's been driving that stretch of road
for 23 years.