One dead in five-vehicle pileup on Los Angeles freeway

LOS ANGELES — A 25-year-old man was killed and five other people were injured in a five-vehicle pileup on a Los Angeles freeway early Sunday morning.

The California Highway Patrol responded to the collision at 3:18 a.m. on northbound Interstate 5 near the Los Feliz Boulevard exit, adjacent to Griffith Park.

The 25-year-old victim was ejected from his vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.

Among those injured, a 28-year-old man remains in critical condition. Four other victims—aged 61, 35, and two 22-year-olds—are in stable condition at a local hospital.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash. Three lanes remained closed for several hours before reopening to traffic by 10 a.m.

A fatal collision on Interstate 5 this weekend has once again cast a spotlight on the systemic safety risks embedded in Southern California’s transit infrastructure. The I-5 corridor serves as a critical economic artery for Los Angeles, yet the stretch near Griffith Park and the Los Feliz exit remains a notorious bottleneck where complex traffic flows frequently converge with disastrous results.

The timing of the incident, occurring at approximately 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, underscores persistent public safety concerns. While official causes are still under investigation, early morning hours typically correlate with a spike in high-risk factors such as excessive speed, operator fatigue, and driving under the influence. The resulting seven-hour closure of three major lanes caused a significant ripple effect across the regional transport network, disrupting weekend commerce and mobility.

In a metropolitan area defined by its car-dependent economy, these incidents are more than isolated tragedies; they represent major logistical failures that impact regional productivity. For California policymakers, the crash serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges in highway safety and the urgent need for infrastructure improvements to mitigate the economic and human costs of a fragile transit system.

The I-5 is a vital artery for Southern California, serving as a critical lifeline for the Vietnamese-American community in Little Saigon and its surrounding neighborhoods. For many of us, this freeway is a daily necessity—whether we are commuting to jobs in the nail salon industry, meeting family at a favorite phở restaurant, or traveling between Orange County and Los Angeles to manage family matters like F2B or H-1B visa logistics. This accident serves as a sobering reminder of the constant risks inherent in the daily commutes that define life in our community.