Wrong-way crash on Highway 101 kills 4

SAN FRANCISCO » Four people were killed in a two-vehicle wrong-way crash in San Francisco, closing the northbound lanes of Highway 101 in the early hours of Thursday morning.

At 12:24 a.m., California Highway Patrol received multiple calls that a motorist was driving the wrong way on northbound Highway 101 just south of the Paul Avenue exit, near Candlestick Point. A few minutes later, CHP officers encountered the two-vehicle crash, said spokesperson Bert Diaz.

The crash involved a Volkswagen heading south on northbound 101 that collided head- on with a taxi cab. The Volkswagen driver and the taxi driver and two passengers were killed. Officers are looking into whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash

The wrong-way driver was a 34-year- old Burlingame woman, the CHP told ABC 7, this news organization’s partner. The cab driver was a 43-year- old man from San Carlos and his two passengers were a 62-year- old man from Barrington, Illinois, and a 57-year- old woman from Chicago.

The identities of the four people have not been released pending their formal identification by the coroner’s office.

“At this time we are looking into whether seatbelts were being used within that taxi cab. It does appear one of the passengers was ejected due to the collision,” Officer Diaz told ABC 7.

For about four hours, CHP closed down all lanes of Highway 101 going northbound and diverted traffic north of Paul Avenue. At about 5 a.m., two lanes reopened, leaving the left two lanes blocked. All lanes reopened by about 7:10 a.m.