Two die after wrong-way driver speeding up to 100 mph causes fatal crash on 5 Freeway in O.C.

Two people were killed early Monday when a wrong-way driver speeding at up to 100 mph on the 5 Freeway collided with another vehicle in Fullerton, the California Highway Patrol said.

The crash closed all but one lane on the southbound side of the road where it meets the 91 Freeway, and no estimate on when more lanes would be reopened was available, said CHP Officer Monica Posada. As of 6 a.m., a Sigalert remained effect for the southbound 5 north of the 91.

Authorities said calls began flooding into dispatchers just after 3:15 a.m., reporting a wrong-way driver heading north in the freeway’s southbound lanes. The car was reported doing 70 mph in the slow lane at 3:19 a.m. and then 100 mph on the right shoulder of the roadway one minute later, according to CHP logs.

Witnesses reported a crash one minute later, with debris scattered across the freeway and a vehicle on fire with the driver trapped inside. The driver of the wrong-way vehicle and the driver of the other vehicle in the crash were killed, the CHP said.

The identities of the two drivers were not immediately available.

[email protected]

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

ALSO

When it comes to Southern California’s heat wave, the worst is yet to come

LAPD suspends cadet programs at stations where teens accused of stealing police cruisers were assigned

Brush fires near Castaic Lake and Wrightwood continue to burn for a second day

UPDATES:

6:40 a.m.: This article was updated with details of a second fatality.

This article was first published at 6:15 a.m.