9-Year-Old Girl Killed in 101 Freeway Crash

1:45 p.m. UPDATE A CHP dispatcher told Patch all lanes are now open.

11 a.m. UPDATE: A CHP dispatcher told Patch the far-right lane on the southbound 101 has been opened, but traffic is extremely congested. There is no estimation for when the freeway will open.

A 9-year-old girl was killed and a 27-year-old woman -- possibly her mother -- suffered burns to least 80 percent of her body when their SUV overturned and caught fire today on the 101 Freeway in Calabasas, the California Highway Patrol said.

CHP Officer Christian Cracraft could not confirm if the 27-year-old
woman was the child's mother.

The crash on the southbound 101 at the Malibu Canyon-Las Virgenes Road
overpass was reported to the CHP at 8:32 a.m.

The woman's SUV reportedly hit the rear of a truck that had either stopped or slowed on the freeway, then flipped and caught fire, CHP officers said.

A Los Angeles County Fire dispatcher said paramedics rushed a woman with
burns to 80 percent of her body to an area hospital.

In the miles-long backup, impatient drivers were making illegal turns on
the freeway and exiting the freeway on the Kanan Road onramp, officers said.

Traffic reporters advised L.A.-bound motorists on U.S. 101 to detour via Malibu or Simi Valley to avoid the blockade of the only major road between the Conejo and San Fernando valleys.

A SigAlert was issued at 8:47 a.m. and cancelled at 1:20 p.m, Cracraft
said.

-- From City News Service