Fiery fuel truck crash kills two, snarls major freeway in LA

HAWTHORNE, Calif. -- A fuel tanker truck crashed and burned early Friday on a freeway near Los Angeles International Airport, killing two people and causing a massive traffic jam forcing travelers to abandon their vehicles and walk off the freeway with their luggage, authorities said.

The California Highway Patrol received reports of the crash involving the double-tanker truck and an SUV followed by a fireball on the westbound side of Interstate 105 in suburban Hawthorne shortly after 5 a.m.

Authorities told reporters both drivers were killed and coroner's investigators would determine whether anyone else was in the wreckage.

The pre-dawn crash turned the morning commute into chaos on the south side of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.

Both sides of the freeway and a Metro light rail commuter line running down the middle of the highway were shut down as authorities let the fire burn itself out.

Some motorists got out of their cars and others tried to drive off the freeway by using on-ramps as exits.

Shortly after 6 a.m. the highway patrol's online incident log reported people were abandoning vehicles, taking luggage and jumping over fences alongside the freeway. It is a major southern approach to the airport.

Undamaged eastbound lanes reopened after nearly three hours, while emergency work continued on the westbound side and investigators sought to determine why the vehicles collided.

Fuel had to be carefully removed from a trailer tank that overturned but did not burn. County Fire Department Inspector Joey Marron said vent holes had to be drilled in the tank's three compartments so the fuel could be pumped out.

It was not immediately known how long the westbound lanes would remain closed.

"We don't know the condition of the pavement," said Lauren Wonder, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.

Engineers were being summoned to determine whether lane markers could simply be restored or whether pavement would need to be patched or dug out, Wonder said.

Damage assessment was also being conducted on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's adjacent Green Line tracks and the overhead electrical system.

Busses were sent to ferry rail passengers around the crash area.

Interstate 105 runs east-west across southern Los Angeles County, intersecting with four other major freeways.