2 People Killed, 7 Others Injured In 405 Crash Involving Wrong-Way Driver
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) -- Two people were killed early Saturday morning in a multi-vehicle crash involving a wrong-way driver on the southbound 405 freeway in Long Beach.
The California Highway Patrol received a call early Saturday morning in Orange County of a Nissan heading north in the southbound HOV lane of the 405.
By the time officers got to the car, it had collided head-on with a driver heading southbound in the HOV lane, officials said. Both the wrong-way driver and the driver of the vehicle that she hit died on the scene.
The wrong-way driver was identified as 23-year-old Kaylee Perez of Los Angeles and the driver who was struck was identified as 32-year-old Manasseh Marion of Long Beach, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's office.
Due to poor visibility, eight more cars were involved in the pile-up because they could not see the crash with enough time to stop, officials said.
Seven people were taken to area hospitals — two trauma patients and five minor injury patients — after the crash, authorities said.
The northbound lanes of the freeway were temporarily blocked at Palo Verde Avenue, and traffic was being diverted off the freeway at Studebaker Road.
The CHP reported that all lanes of the freeway had reopened around 10:30 a.m.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
This story has been updated.
