A truck briefly pursued by police crashed into two other vehicles while going the wrong way within the MacArthur Maze, killing a person and causing a long commute traffic backup early Tuesday, authorities said.
The crash happened about 4:30 a.m. on westbound Interstate 580 at the maze leading to I-80, the California Highway Patrol said. It involved a BMW, a utility truck and a utility van, according to CHP spokesperson Officer Adib Zeid.
Th driver of the BMW died at the scene. Authorities did not identify the dead person immediately.
Zeid said El Cerrito police pursued the truck following an undisclosed incident in that city but that “they terminated the pursuit” before the wreck.
According to the CHP, the driver who was pursued turned the truck around on the freeway before reaching the Bay Bridge toll plaza and slammed into the cars while going east on westbound I-580.
The truck’s driver and a passenger inside suffered major injuries and were taken by ambulance to a hospital, Zeid said. A driver in a white van also suffered major injuries and was hospitalized.
El Cerrito police contacted early Tuesday did not have details immediately about the incident in their city that caused the pursuit.
Two left lanes remained blocked at 7:30 a.m., and only one lane was allowing cars through the mess, Zeid said. The CHP issued a Sig-Alert for severe traffic. There was no estimate for when the crash would be cleared.
Traffic on Highway 24 was affected by the wreck and backed up nearly to the Caldecott Tunnel.
No other information was available immediately.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.