Multi-car crash leads to another as Highway 99 slows and four go to hospital
Two crash scenes — the second triggered by the first — early Saturday afternoon in Madera County backed up traffic on Highway 99 for more than two hours and sent four people to the hospital, two with major injuries, the California Highway Patrol reported.
Officers arrived at the first crash just before noon. It involved nine vehicles along the 99 in a construction zone near Avenue 16.
Traffic was backed up in the southbound lanes of the highway.
With officers still on the scene there, a second crash was reported at 1 p.m. along the highway at Avenue 20 1/2. Three vehicles were involved in that accident.
Who was hurt
The four injuries all arose out of the second crash, including two people who had to be airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center.
An elderly woman and a young man had major injuries. Their status is not known.
Two others had minor to moderate injuries, CHP spokesman Gregorio Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the second crash was a result of drivers not paying attention and traveling too fast as traffic slowed and came to a stop because of the first crash. Slower moving traffic due to the construction may have been a factor in the first crash.
Traffic in Madera County started flowing freely at 2:30 p.m.
This story was originally published November 28, 2020 at 6:19 PM.
