A fatal multi-vehicle crash tore through southbound Interstate 880 at the Mission Boulevard interchange in Fremont early Sunday morning, snarling the freeway for hours and leaving people trapped in the wreckage as crews scrambled to clear the scene. The California Highway Patrol was still investigating the collision, which began before dawn and ballooned to involve as many as eight vehicles before the sun came up.
According to NBC Bay Area, the initial collision was reported at approximately 3:57 a.m. The CHP incident log first placed a vehicle in the center divide at 3:57 a.m.; its next entries, at 3:58 a.m., mentioned the right shoulder and reverse gore point near the Mission Boulevard, or state Route 262, interchange. What started as one disabled car quickly spiraled: by 4:32 a.m., authorities were fielding reports of additional vehicles crashing into the scene, and the incident grew to an estimated seven to eight vehicles, including a white Ford Transit van, the station reported. KRON4 similarly reported the multi-vehicle crash was called in shortly before 4 a.m. on southbound I-880 near Mission Boulevard.
The crash left people reportedly trapped inside the wreckage, prompting the CHP to request three tow trucks to the scene, NBC Bay Area reported. The Alameda County Coroner was notified at approximately 5:37 a.m., underscoring the severity of the collision even as the roadway remained a tangle of blocked lanes and stranded vehicles.
Hours of Closures Along the Mission Boulevard Interchange
At 5:58 a.m., the CHP issued a SigAlert reporting that southbound lanes 2, 3 and 4 were blocked, according to the same NBC Bay Area account. KRON4 reported that all but the far left lane of southbound I-880 remained blocked later Sunday morning, according to the CHP, and that the Mission Boulevard ramp to southbound I-880 was closed. NBC Bay Area reported that lane number one briefly reopened while the Mission Boulevard/SR-262 flyover stayed closed…