Crews slowly reopened the southbound 57 Freeway in Fullerton Thursday morning after a deadly chain-reaction collision left one dead and five others hospitalized.
The crash occurred near Chapman Avenue around 7:05 p.m. Wednesday when a big rig hauling a forklift lost control after blowing a tire in southbound lanes and crashed through the roadway’s center divider, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The impact dislodged the forklift from the semi and sent it into the air and onto the other side of the roadway.
“The forklift went airborne and collided with three vehicles that were going northbound on the 57,” said CHP Officer Florentino Olivera.
Meanwhile, the truck continued traveling southbound in northbound lanes, eventually crashing head-on into a white Honda Accord that was driving in the HOV lane, according to Olivera.
The male driver of the Honda was killed in the collision, Olivera said. His identity has not yet been released.
Five others were transported to a hospital with injuries that were not considered to be life threatening.
“We are surprised there weren’t more vehicles involved and more serious injuries,” Olivera said.
Three lanes of the freeway — two on the southbound side and one on the northbound side — were reopened by 2:40 a.m., CHP’s incident log stated.
Cleanup efforts continued overnight, but by 8 a.m., all southbound lanes were open, according to the incident log.
The entire freeway was finally reopened before noon, according the the CHP.
An investigation into the crash remained ongoing.