VINE HILL — A person died Thursday after a multi-vehicle collision that blocked Highway 4 lanes Thursday evening and led California Highway Patrol officers to issue a Sig-alert, authorities said.
Shortly after 5:50 p.m., CHP officers learned of the collision in eastbound Hwy. 4 lanes just west of the on-ramp from northbound Interstate 680. When officers arrived, they found two vehicles that sustained heavy damage, as well as a third vehicle, in the roadway’s No. 1 or left-most lane.
One person at the scene was taken to a hospital, where they were later pronounced dead. Their identity was not available Thursday night, pending next-of-kin notification from the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office coroner’s division.
The CHP issued a Sig-alert at 6:08 p.m., advising drivers and residents to avoid the area due to the collision. The alert was lifted at 7:31 p.m.
The crash was the sixth fatal one on the highway in 2023, following a double-fatality collision just over a week ago in Martinez. There have been nine fatal crashes on the highway since November 16, 2022, when three children were among five people killed in a head-on collision in Pittsburg.
According to a count by this news organization, the fatal wreck was the 37th on the freeway since the start of 2021, and 42 people have died in those crashes.
Anyone with information may call the CHP’s Contra Costa office at 925-646-4980.
Staff writer Rick Hurd contributed to this report. Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
Source: www.mercurynews.com