Two people in a pickup truck survived a crash on the 710 Freeway Thursday afternoon despite the fact that a semi-truck and its container tipped onto their vehicle, nearly crushing it.
The wreck happened shortly after 1:50 p.m. Thursday on the northbound 710 just past Del Amo Boulevard. That’s where one of the vehicles changed lanes, leading to the collision, said California Highway Patrol Officer Bobby Eurin.
Long Beach Fire Department crews responded to the scene and found two people trapped inside a Chevrolet pickup that was pinned under the big rig, said Fire Capt. Jake Heflin.
Firefighters quickly freed one of the people and then called in a heavy wrecker tow truck that helped with the second rescue, which required firefighters to cut into the pickup truck with the Jaws of Life, Heflin said. Both people were freed within an hour and a half of the crash.
The pickup driver and passenger were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, Eurin said.
The pickup truck ended up facing the wrong way with its roof partially crushed on the passenger side by the semi-truck’s cabin.
The semi-truck container smashed through the windshield but came to rest just above the steering wheel.
Investigators were still working to determine the full circumstances leading up to the crash.
The crash initially left all lanes blocked for roughly a half hour, according to a CHP incident log. The leftmost lane reopened around 2:35 p.m. Thursday. All lanes were reopened by 6 p.m. Thursday, Eurin said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated Friday morning with more information from the CHP.