State Highway 1 in Santa Cruz reopened Tuesday after after a big-rig crashed into 21 other vehicles this morning, the California Highway Patrol said.
A 28-year-old San Jose man was driving a 1990 Peterbilt truck and bottom dump trailer combination south on state Highway 17 when he merged onto northbound Highway 1 just south of River Street at about 9:50 a.m., according to the CHP.
He did not stop and crashed into 21 vehicles while merging, the CHP said. Eleven people were injured. One person was flown to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and the San Jose man was taken to Watsonville Community Hospital with minor injuries.
One witness to the scene, Jeremy Pavia, tells NBC Bay Area that a good samaritan named Robert Woodlief helped pull victims of out of the burning cars.
The CHP issued a Sig-alert and the highway reopened at 3:30 p.m. A CHP officer inspected the truck's load weight and its brakes, but officials have not yet released the cause of the crash.
