In a stunning incident late Sunday night, a Tesla veered off an overpass and plummeted onto the eastbound lanes of the 134 Freeway in Griffith Park, igniting in a blaze. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported to the collision just before 11 p.m., where firefighters encountered the vehicle's "stubborn flames" as they vigorously worked to extinguish the blaze. By the time the responders reached the scene, the two occupants, men in their 60s, had already managed to extract themselves from the wreckage, as per LAFD's communication officer Brian Humphrey.
Despite the traumatic plunge from the Riverside Drive overpass to the concrete below, the automotive catastrophe did not claim their lives. The pair was transported to nearby trauma centers in serious but stable condition, and are expected, against all odds, to survive this harrowing ordeal as noted by KABC. Police have dismissed driving under the influence as a potential cause, but the true reason why the driver lost control still remains unexplained.
The incident forced a significant closure of the busy Los Angeles thoroughfare. A SigAlert was announced shortly before midnight, causing the shutdown of three eastbound lanes until early morning around 4:30 a.m. The crash meanwhile, had left one westbound lane of the freeway closed as cleanup crews worked through the night, as reported by CBS Los Angeles.
The California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department are investigating the circumstances leading up to the crash. According to KTLA, all lanes were reopened by the early morning hours as the agencies continued to piece together what caused the Tesla to so dramatically lose control and career off the overpass. The investigation is ongoing, and details will likely be forthcoming as officials probe the vehicle's wreckage and other potential evidence from the scene.
