Five vehicles were involved in the collision. The garbage truck, which was traveling south, smashed into the center divide and went airborne crushing a Batesville Casket truck, which was delivering coffins, and hitting a flatbed tow truck head-on in the northbound lane.  It finally came to rest, engulfed in flames, straddling the concrete barrier.

"The big rig is in essence a see-saw across the center median," said CHP Officer Oscar Johnson.  "The fire department has stabilized it, but we're waiting for the tow trucks to come and remove the big-rig so we can start picking through the scene as it cools off from the fire." 

There were two other cars involved, Holman Perez was driving one of them.  He says he was traveling north in his SUV, and had only a split second to react and save his life. 

"I said, I need to make a decision now.  And I decided to go right," said Perez.

He veered to the right with the big-rig coming down on top of him, totaling his SUV.  Perez escaped the collision without a scratch.

The Waste Management big-rig driver was one of the deceased, along with the driver of the coffin delivery truck.
 
KCBS reporter Doug Sovern said the crash was one of the worst he’s ever seen, with the big rig, and two other trucks just a pile of twisted metal, tangled with coffins and charred garbage. He described the air as very heavy with an acrid, bitter smoky smell.

Both northbound and southbound 880 were shut down at Marina for hours while crews cleaned up the mess. 

Home page photo courtesy of Ed Zipp of Zippe Photo. Other photos courtesy CBS5, KCBS listener Karen Meyer, and KCBS' Doug Sovern

 

KCBS' Doug Sovern reports