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91 Freeway Reopens After Debris Flow Traps Several Vehicles In Corona

CORONA (CBSLA.com) — Traffic resumed on the 91 Freeway after it was shut for several hours Wednesday morning in Corona.

Overnight rain caused a rock and mudslide across all eastbound lanes of the thoroughfare just before 2 a.m. just west of Green River Road.

The debris flow trapped as many as seven cars but no injuries were reported.

"We had large rocks and debris in the lane," Sgt. Todd Koehler said.

The California Highway Patrol says the flow came from a recently burned area of the hillside and spread across seven lanes and both shoulders of the eastbound freeway.

The CHP opened five lanes around 7:20 a.m. after cleanup crews spent nearly two hours clearing debris and removing trapped vehicles.

David Richardson, a public information officer for Caltrans, told KNX 1070's Pete Demetriou that he'll be bringing in experts to check out the hillside where the slide happened.

"We are going to have a geotechnical engineer look at it and, if need be, we will deploy K-rail to contain additional mudflows," Richardson said.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

 

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