Fiery freeway accident leaves 2 dead in Calif.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. - A crash in a rain-slicked Southern California freeway tunnel quickly turned into a fiery, chain-reaction pileup that mangled 15 trucks, killed two people, and shut down the key north-south route as wreckage burned for hours.

It was not immediately clear yesterday whether the two people who died were among 10 hospitalized right after the accident, said David Porter, a California Highway Patrol officer.

Two trucks collided about 11 p.m. Friday inside a southbound truck tunnel on Interstate 5, triggering the pileup, Fire Inspector Jason Hurd said. The accident scattered wreckage for at least half a mile and continued to block the key link between Los Angeles and San Francisco yesterday.

At one point, flames shot out of the tunnel and 100 feet into the night sky, said Los Angeles County firefighter Scott Clark, one of about 300 firefighters battling the blaze at its height.

"It looked like a bomb went off," said Clark, who worked on the fire throughout the night.

The charred skeletons of at least a half-dozen big rigs peeked out of the tunnel's south end. At least one truck was carrying produce, and a smoldering load of cabbages lay scattered across the pavement.

By midmorning most of the flames appeared to have been extinguished, although thick columns of smoke were still curling out of the tunnel and into the surrounding canyons. Firefighters began pouring flame-retardant foam into one end of the tunnel to douse any hot spots.

Twenty people evacuated the fiery tunnel on foot, including the 10 injured, Hurd said, and five trucks were stuck inside. One truck driver was unaccounted for, and authorities were worried that more may be missing.

Although the tunnel, 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, is designed to carry truck traffic through a mountain pass, Hurd said passenger cars also may use it, raising concerns that some may be trapped inside.

The interstate, a key route connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco and a major commuter link connecting Los Angeles to its northern suburbs, was expected to remain closed throughout the day yesterday and perhaps longer.