LOS ANGELES—One person was killed May 8 morning in a fiery crash on the Hollywood (101) Freeway in East Hollywood that authorities said involved a wrong-way motorist.
The crash was reported at about 4 a.m. on the southbound Hollywood Freeway near Alvarado Street, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Witnesses called CHP dispatchers before the crash to report a wrong-way motorist northbound in southbound lanes, the patrol agency reported.
CHP Officer Roberto Gomez told reporters at the scene that a red Toyota Prius was northbound in the southbound lanes when it sideswiped a southbound Honda car. The Toyota then collided with a southbound pickup truck, and both vehicles were engulfed in flames, Gomez said.
A person believed to have been the driver of the Toyota died at the scene. Information on the person’s identity was not immediately available.
One patient was trapped inside a vehicle when firefighters arrived, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Margaret Stewart. The person was freed by firefighters and was taken to a hospital in unknown condition. Two patients suffered minor, non-life-threatening injuries and declined transport to a hospital, Stewart said.
The CHP issued a SigAlert shutting down all southbound lanes of the Hollywood Freeway at Melrose Avenue, with traffic diverted off the roadway at Santa Monica Boulevard. All lanes reopened about 8:30 a.m., the CHP reported.
