59-Vehicle Crash Shuts Down Highway 99 in Fog, 10 Injured

A massive chain-reaction crash involving 59 vehicles shut down California's Highway 99 in both directions Saturday morning, injuring 10 people amid dense fog that reduced visibility to as low as 100 feet, authorities reported.

The incident unfolded just after 8:15 a.m. near the community of Earlimart in Tulare County, about 40 miles north of Bakersfield and southeast of Fresno. The California Highway Patrol received multiple emergency calls reporting collisions across northbound and southbound lanes near Avenue 24, a busy corridor for freight and commuters in the state's agriculture-rich Central Valley. Within minutes, the highway turned into a scene of mangled sedans, jackknifed semi-trucks and scattered debris spanning multiple lanes.

CHP officers confirmed the involvement of 59 vehicles, including cars, trucks and big rigs, some of which overturned or piled into concrete barriers. Initial reports from Tulare County officials suggested up to 150 vehicles might have been affected, but CHP clarified the lower figure after assessing the wreckage. "The carnage out there. Vehicles turned over and up on each other, under each other," CHP Officer Adrian Gonzalez said. Investigators...