5 Freeway reopens after fatal East LA crash

EAST LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- All lanes on the northbound 5 Freeway in East Los Angeles were closed Saturday after a driver was killed in an early morning bridge construction crash. A male passenger, 23, was also hospitalized with moderate injuries.

The driver has been identified by the L.A. County Coroner as Jose Antonio Garcia, 34, of Compton.

Lanes were shutdown at Atlantic Boulevard, but were reopened at 7:40 p.m. The northbound 710 Freeway had all of its lanes reopened by 4:15 p.m., according to Caltrans.

The single-car crash involving a red 2007 Dodge Magnum was reported around 2 a.m., California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jose Nunez said.

Law enforcement says the car was heading northbound on the 5 Freeway when, for unknown reasons, it drove up the embankment where the 5 and 710 freeways meet, slamming into the construction site. Steel and wooden support beams from the temporary construction project to widen the 710 Freeway fell onto the car upon impact.

L.A. County fire crews responded with heavy equipment. It took firefighters about 15 minutes to extricate the passenger, who was taken to L.A. County USC Medical Center, L.A. County fire Capt. Brian Jordan said.

The driver's body was removed from the rubble using the Jaws of Life around 6 a.m.

"We actually brought in an excavator from our heavy equipment section, and they actually lifted up these pieces of metal and wood that are thousands of pounds of weight, and moved them to a safe area," Jordan said.

Traffic on the northbound 5 Freeway was diverted to Telegraph Road. Drivers were asked to avoid the northbound 5 Freeway in the East L.A. and Commerce areas.

An investigation into a cause of the crash is ongoing. Police say they plan to conduct toxicology tests on the driver's body and talk to the hospitalized passenger to find out what happened in the moments before the crash.