Jun 27, 2008 12:27 am US/Pacific
Double Fatal Crash Closes I-880 For 10 Hours
SAN LEANDRO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ―
A garbage hauling big-rig driver and the driver of a small truck hauling empty coffins were killed in a fiery, five vehicle crash Thursday that closed up to a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 880 for nearly 10 hours.
Both directions of the I-880 Nimitz Freeway in San Leandro were shut down following the 9:15 a.m. crash and traffic was diverted traffic onto other Bay Area freeways.
The California Highway Patrol said all lanes of the highway were finally reopened about 7 p.m., once the wreckage was cleared.
CHP investigators indicated the crash apparently happened after a small car traveling south had a tire failure just south of Marina Boulevard and veered over from the fast lane. That caused the big-rig carrying garbage to swerve toward the center divide.
Police said the Wast Management garbage truck, which also was traveling south, smashed into the center divide and exploded. It then went airborne crushing a Batesville Casket truck, which was delivering coffins, and hitting a flatbed tow truck head-on in the northbound lane. It finally came to rest, engulfed in flames, straddling the concrete barrier.
"The big rig is in essence a see-saw across the center median," said CHP Officer Oscar Johnson.
The driver of the coffin truck was pronounced dead at the scene. A second body was also found, and authorities later determined it was the driver of the big-rig. No identities were immediately released.
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