A chain-reaction crash on Highway 101 in Sunnyvale early Monday morning left 3 dead and 5 others injured. The victims were rushed to the hospital, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).

According to CHP, it all started when a pickup truck lost control around 12:30 a.m. on Monday just south of Fair Oaks Avenue. It was northbound on the highway and eventually crashed into the center median. An additional number of crashes followed the original incident, leading to a chain reaction. Drivers and passengers proceeded to get out of their cars and were then hit by incoming traffic.

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The series of crashes and resultant investigation shut down the highway in both directions between Fair Oaks Avenue and Lawrence Expressway for several hours. At 8:40 a.m., the southbound side reopened. The northbound side still remains closed.

“After the initial collision where we had the initial pickup truck that crashed into the center median, at least one or two vehicles collided with that vehicle or debris that came out of the pickup truck,” a CHP official said. “Drivers of those two vehicles stopped within the lanes we believe at this time…They stopped within the lanes, got out of their vehicles to assess the damage, check on the other drivers, and make sure that everybody was OK. Additional vehicles that were traveling northbound came into contact with the scene and collided with the scene as well, struck two of those pedestrians, sending them over the wall.”

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According to Lee, at least seven vehicles were involved in the collisions. Six of them were on the northbound side and one on the southbound side, Lee said.