Two people were killed Saturday morning in a multi-vehicle crash involving a wrong way driver on the southbound 405 Freeway in Long Beach, where at least seven other people were injured, authorities said.

The crash was reported at 3:50 a.m. Saturday near Palo Verde Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol. Authorities said a driver was speeding the wrong way in the HOV lane on the foggy freeway when she collided head-on with another vehicle.

The impact caused major damage, throwing both drivers from their vehicles, according to a CHP news release. Both died at the scene. The wrong-way driver was Kaylee Perez, 23, of Los Angeles, and the vehicle she hit was driven by Manasseh Marion, 32, of Long Beach, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.

Marion had just left his home in Long Beach and was on his way to work, according to Shannon Roark, who knows friends and a co-worker of Marion’s. She said Marion’s friends found out about what happened after he didn’t show up for his 4:30 a.m. shift, something that was “completely unlike him.”

They began calling hospitals and checking for news reports about accidents and soon confirmed he’d been killed in the crash, Roark said.

The original wreck also sparked a series of eight chain-reaction crashes in the following minutes, authorities said.

At least seven other people were were injured in those crashes, according to authorities. Firefighters and paramedics rushed two trauma patients and five minor injury patients to area hospitals, said Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Jake Heflin.

Editor’s note: Due to incorrect information provided by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office, this story originally said Marion was a passenger in Perez’s car.