3 motorcyclists killed in mass accident near Camp Pendleton

Three people were killed in a chain reaction car crash on Interstate 5 in San Diego County near Camp Pendleton on Thursday morning.

The accident was reported just after 3 a.m. on the southbound side of the highway near Las Pulgas Road north of Oceanside, according to the California Highway Patrol’s online incident log. A vehicle stopped on the highway was struck from behind by a military jeep and immediately caught fire.

NBC news station KNSD reported that the car crash caused a chain reaction and four motorcyclists collided with a delivery truck. Three of the motorcyclists died at the scene, CHP officer Hunter Gerber told the news station.

Traffic was still at a complete standstill several hours after the accident at 10 a.m. because a SigAlert was issued at around 4 a.m.

According to a Times reporter who was stuck in the traffic jam, traffic was backed up just across the Orange County line at 6:30 a.m. Emergency vehicles, including CHP and Camp Pendleton fire department patrol cars, sped through traffic in the southbound center lane. After sitting in traffic for several hours, drivers on the highway made illegal U-turns and crossed the center lane to get onto the northbound side of the highway. Others remained in their vehicles with their doors ajar while the sun-tanned drivers were stuck in the morning gridlock.

One time, a woman got out of her GMC Yukon and handed out chips to people stuck in traffic, earning a weary thank you from drivers and passengers.