One Dead On I-15 As Vehicle Gets Trapped Under Car Carrier

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — One person was killed in a crash on Interstate 15 Wednesday morning, after apparently slamming into the back of a tractor-trailer and getting wedged underneath. The crash happened around 9:55 a.m. on the southbound side of the roadway, just north of State Route 74 in Lake Elsinore, according to fire and police reports.

The crash happened after the driver of the large truck pulled to the shoulder of the freeway, near the Highway 74 off-ramp, to check his load moments before the wreck, according to the California Highway Patrol.

As the trucker was standing next to his rig — which was loaded with other vehicles — the driver of a white sedan, possibly trying to exit the freeway, plowed into the rear of the tractor- trailer, ending up crumpled underneath the truck, according to reports from the scene.

Fire and CHP officials were called to the scene.

"The first arriving engine company reported one vehicle underneath a car carrier," the Riverside County Fire Department reported. "One victim perished at the scene."

The name of the motorist was not released. The trucker escaped injury.

The CHP shut down the slow lane of southbound I-15 for emergency vehicles and to conduct a preliminary investigation. The lane closure was lifted about 90 minutes later.

— City News Service contributed to this report / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone