Pileup in Fresno Kills 2 and Injures Many

Jenny Albano

Contributor

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On Saturday, November 3, there was a huge pileup of over 100 vehicles near Fresno, California that ended up killing two people and injuring many more. A dense fog was blamed for the pileup.

A 6-year-old and a 28-year-old who were traveling in separate cars were killed in chain-reaction collisions around 7:45 a.m. Several people trapped in vehicles had to be extracted and more than three dozen people had to be airlifted to local hospitals. At least nine big rigs were involved in the pileup on northbound, but no hazardous materials were spilled.

Highway 99 was completely shut down after the accident but the southbound lane was eventually re-opened. The northbound lane remains closed so investigators can find the cause of the accidents.

According to Mike Bowman, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, "There was probably two-foot visibility in the fog when I got here. It was really bad. It looked like chaos. Cars were backed up on top of each other."

Thick seasonal fog known as "Tule fog" typically occurs in Central California in the late fall and winter. A stretch of the highway several miles south was the scene of an autumn 74-car pileup nearly a decade ago that left two people dead.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.