California, Oct 23: A 21-year-old Indian-origin truck driver, Jashanpreet Singh of Yuba City, has been arrested for allegedly causing a fatal chain-reaction crash while under the influence of drugs on California’s Interstate 10 Freeway in Ontario, authorities said on Wednesday.
According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Singh was driving a semi-truck at high speed when he failed to brake in time and slammed into congested traffic on Tuesday afternoon. The impact set off a massive fireball, killing three people and injuring at least four others.
“The truck plowed into slow-moving vehicles, leading to multiple fatalities,” a CHP spokesperson said. Emergency responders rushed to the scene to contain the fire and rescue victims trapped inside the wreckage.
Singh was taken into custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin, citing federal sources, said Singh is an undocumented immigrant from India who was released at the California border in 2022. Authorities have not confirmed the report.
The collision has sparked widespread public anger, with many questioning the licensing process for commercial truck drivers and the enforcement of drug testing. The victims’ names are yet to be released pending family notification.
