1 dead as 19 vehicles involved in crashes along EB Hwy 58
UPDATE: The Kern County coroner's office on Friday, Jan. 6, identified the man killed in this crash as 42-year-old Kyle Woodrow Bozarth, of Bakersfield.
The original story, published Thursday, Jan. 5, is below.
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BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) -- A driver was killed and a series of crashes forced the closure Thursday afternoon of eastbound Highway 58 in the area of Towerline Road.
The highway has since reopened.
The California Highway Patrol said traffic had come to a standstill because of a pair of crashes, one involving a jackknifed big rig and the other involving a couple pickups. The driver who died crashed into the back of a semitruck that had stopped because of the other crashes.
There were four people in the Mazda MPV that crashed into the back of the semitruck. The CHP said two were juveniles but didn't provide their ages. One of them suffered major injuries.
The CHP said this crash, which also involved a Volvo driven by a man who wasn't injured, was one of six crashes along that stretch of Highway 58 over a very short amount of time. The crashes involved 19 vehicles in total and kept the roadway shut down for more than three hours.
There was light rain and heavy fog at the time.
