Fiery big rig crash injures 9 on I-880 in San Leandro

Sept. 16--A fiery big rig crash sent nine people to the hospital early Monday morning in San Leandro and closed all lanes of Interstate 880 in both directions for hours, turning the morning commute into a nightmare for scores of commuters, CHP officials said.

The incident began around 3 a.m. when the driver of a sport utility vehicle crashed in the southbound lanes of the freeway near Marina Boulevard, said CHP Officer Colton Kropp, an agency spokesman.

A semi truck behind the SUV swerved to avoid it, lost control and slammed into the center divide, he said.

The truck burst through the barrier -- spraying chunks of concrete across all lanes of the highway -- before coming to rest partway in the fast lane of northbound 880.

An SUV then slammed into the big rig as cars traveling in both directions piled into each other, injuring several people, Kropp said. At least one car burst into flames amidst the chaos.

The CHP issued a Sig Alert as paramedics took nine people to hospitals, including one person who was airlifted by helicopter. Three of the victims had major injuries and six others had minor to moderate injuries, Kropp said. Other drivers were treated at the scene by paramedics.

Traffic was shut down for hours in both directions, leaving many motorists parked and stuck for much of the morning commute.

Close to 30 feet of the center median was destroyed but later repaired by Caltrans workers. Investigators were working to piece together what led to the crash. No drivers were immediately cited or arrested in the wreck.

Southbound lanes reopened just before 7 a.m., and all northbound lanes reopened at 9:28 a.m., the CHP said.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky

Copyright 2014 - San Francisco Chronicle