LOS ANGELES – An elevated section of Interstate 10 collapsed Sunday amid heavy rains in a remote desert area of California, cutting off traffic between the state and Arizona and leaving a driver injured.
A bridge on eastbound I-10 across a normally dry desert wash about 50 miles west of the Arizona state line washed away, the California Highway Patrol said, blocking all traffic headed toward Arizona.
The westbound section of the freeway remained intact, but traffic was being stopped while it was inspected for safety.
The Riverside County Fire Department said it had to extract a driver who crashed in the collapse. The person was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.
Pamala Browne, 53, and her daughter were driving from Flagstaff, Arizona to Palm Desert, California when they got stranded when the westbound lanes were shutdown.