A fiery pileup caused by a wrong-way driver killed three people on Interstate 805 in the Miramar area late Thursday afternoon and tangled rush-hour traffic for miles around.
The series of collisions involving as many as five vehicles — two of which wound up ablaze — occurred on the northbound side of the freeway near Miramar Road shortly after 4:30 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Witnesses described seeing a sports car headed south in a northbound carpool lane at about 100 mph just prior to the deadly accident.
The victims died amid the wreckage of the crumpled vehicles. One person was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening trauma, CHP public affairs Officer Jake Sanchez said.
The accident forced a closure of the northbound side of the freeway between Miramar Road and Sorrento Valley into the early evening.
Updated at 8:45 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 23
— City News Service
