2 Dead, 9 Injured in 35-Vehicle Pileup in California: ‘Everybody Just Started Screaming for Help’

Authorities say two people have been killed and nine others injured in a 35-car crash on a foggy California freeway.

Crews responded to the southbound side of Interstate 5 near Millux and Old River Roads Saturday after learning a multi-vehicle crash had occurred “in fog,” according to the California Department of Transportation.

Kern County Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Calhoun said 35 vehicles — 17 cars and 18 semi-trucks — were involved in the crash around 7:30 a.m. local time, according to NBC affiliate KGET-TV and CBS affiliate KBAK- TV.

Two people were pronounced dead, while nine others were hospitalized with, as reported by KGET-TV, minor injuries.

KCFD and the California Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

The crash scene was “chaotic” when crews arrived, Calhoun told KBAK-TV.

“Everybody just started screaming for help, just like that, and there were little kids crying,” said Yesenia Cruz, one of the nearly three dozen drivers involved in the crash.

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Several bystanders found themselves inside a “cloud of natural gas” after several “compressed natural gas” tanks on some of the semi-trucks ruptured, Calhoun said.

“So we had to deal with that first and evacuate everyone from that area,” the fire chief added.

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According to KGET-TV and CW affiliate KTLA, the scene of the major crash stretched nearly half a mile.

One body reportedly could not be found until around 5:30 p.m., around 10 hours after the accident, KGET-TV reported.

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Buttonwillow CHP Public Information Officer Manny Garcia said visibility was “approximately 100 feet at the time” of the crash, according to KBAK-TV. However, KGET-TV reported that authorities said visibility was only 10 feet when they arrived at the scene.

Dense fog is believed to have caused the accident, according to reports.

Interstate 5 was closed for most of the day Saturday as crews cleaned up the scene and investigated the crash, according to California officials.

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Source: HIS Education

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