A 33-year-old woman died Monday in a traffic collision involving a big rig and several other vehicles on Interstate 5 near Moonlight Beach, authorities reported.
The fatal pileup occurred about 10:45 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway, just south of Encinitas Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.
For unknown reasons, a 40-year-old woman driving a white Chrysler Pacifica in the #4 southbound lane veered onto the right shoulder and hit a grey Honda Civic. This sent both cars crashing into the right shoulder guardrail and into the pathway of a semi-truck tractor trailer.
The semi-truck hit the Chrysler and the Honda, overturning the Chrysler minivan into the path of a Ford Explorer in the carpool lane. As a result from the crash, the 33-year-old passenger in the Chrysler died from her injuries.
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The driver, the passenger and an infant in the Chrysler were transported to local hospitals with moderate and major non-life-threatening injuries. They, along with the deceased passenger, are all from Guatemala, according to CHP.
Three children in the Honda Civic were transported to a local hospital for minor to moderate injuries, according to CHP.
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The incident left all the southbound lanes on the interstate blocked in the area for about one hour, according to Caltrans.
Alcohol and/or drugs are not suspected to be a contribution to the traffic collision, CHP said.
CHP asks anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to contact Oceanside Area CHP office at 760-643-3400.
