Wrong-Way Driver Crashes On 71 Freeway, Car Bursts Into Flames
CHINO HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a wrong-way driver crashed on the 71 Freeway in Chino Hills Thursday evening.
Witnesses said the wrong-way driver was going northbound in the southbound lanes.
Stu Mundel, reporting in Sky2, said the driver hit a center divider and his car then burst into flames around 10:30 p.m.
Mundel said three other vehicles may have also crashed into the wrong-way driver.
He said the driver was rescued by an off-duty LA Sheriff's Department Deputy who saw the crash and was able to pull the driver out before he was engulfed in flames.
"That deputy saved the driver's life," reported Mundel.
The driver was taken to the hospital in an unknown condition.
CHP was on scene investigating the crash.
All but one of the southbound lanes were closed, reported Mundel, causing a significant traffic nightmare.
"Even at this time of night, there's quite a bit of a back up," Mundel reported on CBS2 News at 11 p.m.