A driver died Sunday after heading the wrong way on Interstate 8 in El Cajon, slamming into a concrete wall and launching off the freeway, and a toddler in a car struck by debris suffered major injuries, the California Highway Patrol said.
The driver was going east in a Chevrolet Silverado on the westbound side of the freeway about 7:40 p.m. when the truck hit the guardrail on the passenger’s side, CHP Officer Jared Grieshaber said in a news release.
The pickup kept going straight in the median, crashing into a concrete barrier before leaving the freeway and landing on Second Street underneath the freeway.
The car came to a rest against a wall on Second Street. As bystanders rushed to pull the driver from the wreckage, the pickup caught fire, the officer said. Images shown on CBS 8 show the truck engulfed.
The driver died at the scene.
When the pickup crashed through the barrier and flew off the freeway, it rained chunks of concrete to the street below. Several vehicles were struck by the concrete. A 17-month-old child inside one of those vehicles suffered major injuries, though they are not considered life-threatening, Greishaber said. The child was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital.
The CHP is investigating.
