Los Angeles pileup injures at least 15

An accident involving 19 cars and a transport truck carrying at least 25 tons of sand closed the southbound 14 Freeway and two lanes on its northbound side in Los Angeles County today.

Traffic ground to a halt in the area, which is 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mark Savage said the pileup, which possibly included two big-rig tricks, occurred around 9:45 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway, midway between Antelope Valley and the Los Angeles Basin, reported the Pasadena Star News. There was no fire or hazardous material spills, but one person was briefly trapped inside one of the vehicles involved.

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Savage also said 15 people were injured in the crash, two of them critically, according to the Los Angeles Times. About 50 firefighters were on the scene near Acton to transfer people to nearby hospitals.

The condition of the victims was not immediately known, reported the Associated Press. The cause of the accident, which occurred on a stretch of highway that runs through the San Gabriel Mountains and rises to an elevation topping 3,200 feet, was also still under investigation.

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