Accident snarls Highway 99 holiday traffic

A six-car pileup around the noon hour Thursday in the fast lane of Highway 99 north of Madera caused a major northbound Thanksgiving Day traffic jam.

The accident happened just south of the Avenue 18½ interchange.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Lincoln McKenna said the initial accident involved three vehicles in a chain-reaction collision. Following the accident, two cars in the northbound lane behind it slowed to a stop. The third car in that line, however, collided with the two stopped cars, pushing them into the initial three-car accident, making it a six-car pileup.

One woman was taken by ambulance to a hospital after complaining of stomach pain, McKenna said.

After the accident, heavy holiday traffic was backed up all the way to Madera for about two hours.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Accident snarls Highway 99 holiday traffic."