10-VEHICLE CRASH LEAVES FIVE DRIVERS WITH INJURIES.

Byline: Daily News

Seven cars and three semitrailers tangled during in the morning rush-hour Tuesday in the Newhall Pass, shutting down the southbound truck lanes for more than three hours.

Five drivers - four of them from Santa Clarita and one from Palmdale - suffered minor injuries in the massive collision on the southbound truck-bypass lanes of the Antelope Valley Freeway to Interstate 5, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol.

It was shortly after 8 a.m. when when a trucker hauling 50,000 pounds of plywood headed onto the freeway connector ramp at about 45 mph to 50 mph and came around a curve to stopped traffic, according to the report. Unable to brake in time, the trucker hit a Chevy Malibu driven by a 27-year-old Palmdale woman, dragging her car while hitting several other vehicles.

Firefighters from the city of Los Angeles and the county responded, finding the Malibu stuck between two trucks. The injured were treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. Six cars and a big rig required towing.

Officers said they believed the trucker's speed was responsible for the chain-reaction crash, but said it remains under investigation.