Thread: At least 9 drivers missing in deadly US tunnel crash

At least 9 drivers missing in deadly US tunnel crash
By CHELSEA J. CARTER (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
October 15, 2007 8:42 PM EDT
SANTA CLARITA, California - Authorities scrambled to find at least nine drivers who apparently escaped from vehicles trapped in a weekend tunnel inferno that killed three people on a key California transportation route.

Thirty-one vehicles were involved in the pileup on Interstate 5, but the California Highway Patrol has accounted for only 23 people, including two men and a 6-year-old boy who were killed as some vehicles were reduced to molten steel.

If all were at the wheel at the time of the crash, excluding the boy, that leaves nine missing drivers. The number could be higher if there were passengers in those vehicles.

Investigators are confident only three people died, but CHP Assistant Chief Warren Stanley said they have no idea what happened to the others who left their vehicles to the flames Friday night.

"We have no idea," Stanley said Monday. "We haven't identified all the vehicles, we haven't identified all the drivers."

The fire spread from vehicle to vehicle after several trucks in the crash burst into flames. Flames shot nearly 100 feet (30 meters) in the air outside the tunnel, and reached temperatures as high as 1,400 degrees (760 degrees Celsius).

Wind blowing through one entrance of the tunnel stoked the fire, said state transportation department district director Doug Failing.

As of Monday, the CHP had received no missing person reports connected to the crash 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Los Angeles. The highway is the main West Coast interstate linking Mexico and Canada.

Authorities said 10 people were hospitalized with minor or moderate injuries from the fiery crash. Another 10 people escaped the flaming, 550-foot long tunnel unscathed.

Investigators were still trying Monday to determine the cause of the pileup, as well as trying to locate drivers, passengers and any witnesses to the accident.

They have determined that 31 vehicles - including big rigs and one passenger vehicle - were involved in the crash 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Los Angeles. The driver of the passenger vehicle is among those who escaped, Stanley said.

Authorities were waiting for dental records to help identify the dead, Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.

Two of the victims, believed to be a 38-year-old man and a 6-year-old boy, were riding together in a big rig, MacWillie said. Officials previously said the child in the truck was an infant.

The third body is believed to be Ricardo Cibrian, said Espree Campos, a family friend. She said authorities notified the family Saturday they found a body in Cibrian's truck in the tunnel.

Cibrian's wife and Campos' mother left Monday for Tijuana, Mexico, to retrieve his dental records "so they could identify his body," said Campos, 21.

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http://enews.earthlink.net/article/nat? ... 1304390459

Used to live 2 exits north of that tunnel.....extremely dangerous....you go into it at 65 and it is so dark in there that by the time your eyes adjust to the pitch blackness...you have gone quite a ways without being able to see anything in front of you...very scary.....

It sounds like it needs lights or at least a warning to turn on your lights.

I've been hearing it is very dangerous.

I used to go camping around there. Somewhere back behind Frazier Park. It amazed me that it was so close to Los Angles but the campgrounds were empty. Something about the place would remind me of the movie, "Gargoyle's" which makes for some interesting camping when the sun goes down.

Originally Posted by florgal

Cibrian's wife and Campos' mother left Monday for Tijuana, Mexico, to retrieve his dental records "so they could identify his body," said Campos, 21.

Who wants to bet he is an illegal?

And then who wants to bet he caused the pileup?

I read in our local paper it was started by a truck hauling cantelopes that hit a support pylon. I am going to bet he was the driver of this truck and is illegal. Cantelopes are grown in the central valley where there are tons of illegals.

Originally Posted by Bowman

Originally Posted by florgal

Cibrian's wife and Campos' mother left Monday for Tijuana, Mexico, to retrieve his dental records "so they could identify his body," said Campos, 21.

Who wants to bet he is an illegal?

And then who wants to bet he caused the pileup?

I read in our local paper it was started by a truck hauling cantelopes that hit a support pylon. I am going to bet he was the driver of this truck and is illegal. Cantelopes are grown in the central valley where there are tons of illegals.

Caught that, did ya? I was wondering if I was the only one.
Some folks get EXTREMELY upset when asked if any of those trucks were Mexican trucks. EXTREMELY upset. Americans have every right to know if a Mexican truck caused this tragedy. I may be totally wrong, but I can't help but think if it were an American truck that caused this the news would be ALL OVER IT by now.

As of Monday, the CHP had received no missing person reports connected to the crash 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Los Angeles. The highway is the main West Coast interstate linking Mexico and Canada.

Cibrian's wife and Campos' mother left Monday for Tijuana, Mexico, to retrieve his dental records "so they could identify his body," said Campos, 21.

Need we say more...

Originally Posted by florgal

Americans have every right to know if a Mexican truck caused this tragedy.

I don't think it was a Mexican truck, I think it was an American truck driven by an illegal Mexican. Of course I am half guessing, it is just a gut feeling I have. Now the problem is we will have to deduce the answer ourselves, the press sure as heck won't tell us.

Why do I get the feeling that 9 unaccounted-for persons have fled the scene of this horrendous accident because they were cheap wage illegal aliens hired to drive trucks??? You will never find them. The probably already have new jobs and are on the road again and why doesn't any news media bring up this possible explanation?

Hi there sverny, welcome aboard!

Good questions... I wish I had the answer for you...

Originally Posted by sverny

Why do I get the feeling that 9 unaccounted-for persons have fled the scene of this horrendous accident because they were cheap wage illegal aliens hired to drive trucks??? You will never find them. The probably already have new jobs and are on the road again and why doesn't any news media bring up this possible explanation?

Welcome sverny. I was thinking the same thing.