INDUSTRY — A big rig smashed into the center divider of the 60 Freeway in Industry on Friday, spilling its cargo and prompting a Sig Alert that snarled traffic for more than four hours.
Though the crash wrought havoc on the commute through the San Gabriel Valley, it resulted in no major injuries, authorities said.
The crash took place just after 10:05 a.m. on the westbound 60 Freeway, just east of the 605 Freeway, according to California Highway Patrol logs.
A big rig being driven by a Mira Loma man estimated to be about 50 years old was headed westbound on the freeway hauling metal rails, according to Officer Lillie of the CHP’s Altadena Office, who declined to give his first name.
For reasons not yet determined Friday, the big rig crashed into the cement divider separating westbound traffic from eastbound traffic, Lillie said.
“As a result of that, the rails came free and collided with a metal pole and spread across westbound and eastbound lanes,” the officer said.
The truck ended up glancing off the divider, going across all the lanes of the westbound 60 Freeway and down a dirt embankment, coming to a rest off the roadway, officials said. The driver was taken to a hospital with apparently minor injuries.
Two sedans and a pickup truck struck metal rails falling from the truck, Lillie said. One of the sedan drivers was treated for injuries believed to be minor, while the other two drivers whose vehicles collided with the metal rails did not wish to be taken to a hospital.
In the two hours immediately following the crash, all but one lane in each direction of the 60 Freeway were shut down periodically as the roadway was cleared of debris, officials said.
Two lanes of the westbound 60 Freeway remained closed past 3 p.m.

– Staff report, staff photo