Costa Mesa : Crash Closes Lanes on San Diego Freeway

An accident involving two cars and a tractor-trailer rig closed the southbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway during the morning commute hour Monday. One injured driver was airlifted to a hospital.

The crash occurred near the Harbor Boulevard exit when the truck swerved and struck a car, which then lurched across all lanes of traffic and hit the second car, according to a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

The 7:45 a.m. accident backed up traffic for miles until the wreck was cleared about an hour later, CHP officer Angel Johnson said.

The chain-reaction started when the truck, driven by Whatley Anderson, 30, of Arkadelphia, Ark., swerved for an unknown reason and hit a car in the right lane driven by Mary Zoller, 33, of Huntington Beach.

The force of the impact caused Zoller to lose control. Her vehicle spun across five lanes of traffic and into the car-pool lane, where it collided with a car driven by Samina Elachkar, 19, of Garden Grove, Johnson said.

Elachkar was injured seriously enough that a helicopter was called to take her to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she was later listed in good condition. A passenger, her sister, Mona Elachkar, 23, also of Garden Grove, and Zoller were also taken to local hospitals.

An investigation was continuing, CHP officials said.