A multi-car crash in California left one person dead and more than two dozen injured — and a couple who survived the collision is now describing the terrifying moments they lived through.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, at about 9:15 a.m., the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to reports of a 17-vehicle pileup on Highway 99 in Fresno, KABC-TV reported.
Investigators said the crash likely unfolded after vehicles traveling in two side-by-side lanes slowed suddenly, leaving drivers behind with too little time to stop, according to CBS47 and KSEE24. Officials also said thick fog was a major factor.
Survivor Melissa Culver told KACB that a “thick layer of fog” appeared without warning.
“We could see a half mile — no problem,” her husband, Jason, said in a separate interview with local Fox affiliate KMPH. “Then all of a sudden, there was just a wall of fog.”
Melissa said the next moments were chaos — a “rattle, bang, all over the place.” Their vehicle, she told KABC-TV, was struck seven times, and they also hit the car in front of them.
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Although their car was totaled, the Culvers survived with minor injuries, including bruises and cuts.
Emergency crews arrived within minutes and removed the car’s front door so the couple could safely climb out, according to the outlets.
Most people involved in the chain-reaction crash survived. But authorities reported one fatality: Gustavo Villanueva Vargas, 61.
Vargas and his wife had exited their vehicle before he was struck and “thrown about 30 feet to the right shoulder,” California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Salas said, according to KABC.
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Vargas was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was taken to a hospital, and no further update on her condition has been released.
After the pileup, the Culvers had a message for anyone driving in fog: slow down.
“Don’t mess around with the fog,” Melissa told KMPH. “If you’re going to end up being late to wherever it is that you’re going, alive and late is better than the alternative.”
