Two people were killed and four were critically injured in a vehicle collision on Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast Thursday morning, west of the Goleta Valley.
The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash, which involved six vehicles and all lanes of the highway near El Capitan Canyon Road.
Southbound lanes of Highway 101 were blocked by the crash scene and debris for about five hours after the 7:55 a.m. collision.
CHP Officer Shannan Sams released additional information about the collision Thursday evening.
He wrote in an incident report that the driver of a Ford Expedition was driving northbound on Highway 101 and lost control, eventually moving across the lanes, across the unpaved median, and into southbound traffic lanes.
The Expedition driver, identified as a 29-year-old Santa Maria woman, crossed from the right-hand lane into the left-hand lane of northbound traffic and collided with the right front side of a Ford F-450. The Expedition kept moving left, for unknown reasons, and “was propelled into the air as it entered the southbound lanes,” Sams wrote.
Then, the Expedition collided with two vehicles (a Dodge Grand Caravan and Honda Accord) driving in the left-hand southbound lane, closest to the median, and overturned onto its right side and continued across the lanes.
Two more vehicles swerved to the right to try and avoid the collision, and the Chevy Bolt collided with the Expedition while the Toyota Tundra truck was damaged by debris from the collision, Sams wrote.
Two passengers in the Expedition had major injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP. The driver and two other passengers in the vehicle were transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, two with major injuries and one person with moderate injuries.
The driver of the Dodge Caravan, one of the southbound vehicles hit by the Expedition as it landed in the lane, was also transported to the hospital with major injuries.
Three occupants of the Honda Accord were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Sams said.
American Medical Response, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, and Sheriff’s Department also responded to the crash scene.
The CHP said southbound lanes were blocked near El Capitán State Beach for multiple hours before being reopened around 1 p.m.
Drivers had to use alternate routes — such as State Route 154 or State Route 246 — to get around the closure.
As of 9:30 a.m., southbound traffic stopped behind the crash scene and closure was being turned around, with vehicles driving across the unpaved center divider and using northbound lanes to leave the area.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
