Three Car Pile-up Snarls Afternoon Traffic on I-580

A three car pile-up brought Wednesday's afternoon traffic to a standstill on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 580 near East Castro Valley Boulevard.

Preliminary reports indicate the incident began when a disabled vehicle was trying to make its way to the right shoulder at about 1 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Richard Diamond.

A car stopped behind it, Diamond said, but another vehicle behind that car failed to stop and created a chain-reaction crash.  According to Diamond, traffic was stopped until the vehicles were removed from the freeway.

"The vehicles were severely damaged," he said. "We had to physically force them off the roadway with our patrol cars."

A "jaws-of-life" apparatus was used to remove passengers from one of the vehicles and the ensuing clean-up lasted about an hour, according to Diamond.  There were no fatalities but two people were transported to the hospital after complaining of neck injuries.

Several lanes were blocked off until officers and emergency crews cleared the wreckage and glass from the roadway.