Two people died in a multiple-vehicle collision on northbound Interstate 880 near the Hayward-Union City border late Tuesday, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The crash, which involved a semi-truck, tour bus and two cars, blocked northbound traffic for hours before officials reopened all lanes around 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to the CHP.
The CHP said the collision was first reported around 10:40 p.m. Tuesday. At this point in the investigation, it appears as though the tour bus was travelling in the middle of the freeway when it came up to stop-and-go traffic and struck a vehicle in front of it, according to CHP Officer Manuel Leal. As that vehicle was pushed to the left, the tour bus continued on and plowed into another vehicle, causing it to slam into a semi-truck.
According to Leal, the people who died were driving in the two cars, not the semi-truck or tour bus. The victims have been identified as 57-year-old Renee Rodriguez of Hayward and 46-year-old La-Moomba Richard of San Lorenzo.
Friends and family gathered at the Rodriguez home Wednesday to comfort her husband Augie. He said she was on her way home from work.
"She’d do anything for anybody," Augie Rodriguez said of his wife. "She loved God, she was a hard worker, a good mother."
The driver of the semi-truck, a 61-year-old Salinas man, complained of pain in his neck but the tour bus driver, a 29-year-old Oakland man who started the collision, didn't suffer any injuries, according to the CHP.
None of the vehicles were carrying passengers.
It does not appear that alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash, but Leal said, "we're looking into all causes of this collision."
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The CHP said the tour bus driver is cooperating in the investigation.
