AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Six people were killed on Sunday when a vehicle going the wrong direction on a northern California highway collided with another vehicle, causing a fire that engulfed both cars, police said.

The female driver of the 2013 Chevrolet going the wrong way on Interstate 5 as well as the five people in the other vehicle, a 2013 Dodge, were all pronounced dead at the scene, the California Highway Patrol said.

There were three females and two males in the Dodge. The names of those killed have not yet been released.

Authorities said they have not yet determined if drugs or alcohol had played a role in the crash that took place in Woodland, about 85 miles (135 km) northeast of San Francisco.</s>Five people in a car traveling up California’s Interstate 5 just after midnight on Sunday morning had their journey and their lives ended in a fiery head-on collision with a car driving the wrong way, reports KCRA.

The woman driving the Chevrolet south on the freeway’s northbound lanes also died, leaving six dead in total at the nightmarish scene.

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The California Highway Patrol said it began receiving calls of a wrong-way driver around 12:30 a.m. But by the time investigating officers arrived, the Chevrolet had plowed into a Dodge car. Officers found the two cars engulfed in flames outside the small town of Yolo.

Witness Jeremy Morgan was one of the first on the scene after emergency vehicles had arrived. He snapped a few pictures and shared them on his Facebook page.

“Everything was glowing from the fire and the emergency lights,” Morgan told KCRA. “So it was just this big flickering show. It looked like fireworks going off.”

The Dodge was carrying three women and two men, none of whom have been identified. The woman driving the Chevrolet was likewise not identified. The Yolo County Coroner’s Office is closed on Sundays, so the bodies will be identified, at the earliest, on Monday.

Whether drugs or alcohol were involved in crash is not yet known to authorities, but police are investigating the crash.

The burning vehicles left a white residue on the pavement that became visible at daybreak.

“That is very sad,” Sam Diaz, a resident of nearby Woodland, told KCRA. “It’s heartbreaking when you hear something like that about people getting hurt like that, especially if people are driving the wrong way.”

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In California, a pilot program was initiated last year to identify devices, such as blinking LED lights and video surveillance, that could potentially reduce the number of wrong-way drivers. In fact, the Sacramento region was picked for the program because it has the highest number of deadly crashes in the state, KCRA reported.

Seventeen off-ramps in Yolo County and Sacramento County were selected as part of the pilot project. However, the devices installed are located only along Interstate 80 and Highway 50. Interstate 5 does not have any of the technologies being tested.</s>WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say six people have been killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver on a Northern California highway.

The California Highway Patrol says it received calls around 12:30 a.m. Sunday about a Chevrolet heading south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Woodland.

The CHP says the 2013 Chevrolet with only the female driver inside collided with a Dodge carrying five people about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames.

Officials say the woman in the Chevrolet and everyone in the Dodge — three women and two men — died at the scene.

Investigators will try to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role.</s>WOODLAND — The California Highway Patrol says six people were killed early Sunday morning along Interstate 5 near Woodland.

Around 12:30 a.m. officers got reports of a wrong way driver, traveling southbound in northbound lanes.

Investigators say the wrong way car, described as a Chevrolet, hit a Dodge in the same lane. Both vehicles were on fire when officers responded.

The woman in the Chevrolet and the three women and two men in the Dodge were killed. The two drivers were the only people wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Investigators say it’s unclear if alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash.

Anyone with information about the crash as asked to contact the California Highway Patrol Woodland office at (530) 662-4685.

The victims in the crash have not been identified.</s>Six people have died after two cars collided on Interstate 5 just after midnight Sunday.

According to CHP Woodland, witnesses saw a Chevrolet driving the wrong way on I-5. When deputies arrived they found the two cars.

Investigators believe the Chevrolet collided with a Dodge while going the wrong direction on the interstate. After colliding, both cars burst into flames, killing the driver of the Chevrolet and 5 people inside the Dodge.

It is unclear if drugs or alcohol were a factor.</s>Authorities say six people have been killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver on a Northern California highway.

WOODLAND, Calif. — Authorities say six people have been killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver on a Northern California highway.

The California Highway Patrol says it received calls around 12:30 a.m. Sunday about a Chevrolet heading south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Woodland.

The CHP says the 2013 Chevrolet with only the female driver inside collided with a Dodge carrying five people about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames.

Officials say the woman in the Chevrolet and everyone in the Dodge — three women and two men — died at the scene.

Investigators will try to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role.

The Sacramento Bee reports the Yolo County Coroner’s office will release the identities of the victims.</s>MONROE, N.J. — Two people are dead following a wrong-way collision on the new Jersey turnpike early Saturday morning, according to the New York State Police.

It happened around 12:20 a.m. in Mercer County.

Officials say 41-year-old Micah Morris, of Hamilton Township, was driving the wrong way on the turnpike and struck another vehicle head on. He died in the collision

The driver of the other vehicle, 23-year-old Katherine Ordonez of Newark, was also killed in the crash.

No further information was available.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family of Micah Morris. He leaves behind a wife and child.</s>A wrong way driver caused a car crash that killed six people in northern California, with both cars bursting into flames.

The California Highway Patrol got calls around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday of a Chevy driving south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5.

When they arrived to investigate, the Chevy had collided head on with a Dodge traveling northbound.

The crash occurred in the Yolo County, northwest of Sacramento.

Both vehicles caught fire after the crash, police said.

The driver of the Chevrolet, an unidentified woman, died in the crash.

The other car involved, a Dodge, was carrying five passengers, three women and two men. All five passed away in the collision.

There's no word at present whether alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash, but police are investigating the cause.</s>ST. GEORGE — A head-on collision involving a wrong-way driver on Interstate 15 in Weber County sent one driver to the hospital and another driver to jail early Saturday morning.

Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Utah Highway Patrol and other emergency personnel were dispatched to a reported rollover on northbound I-15 at the Riverdale Road exit in Roy involving two single-occupant vehicles, a white Maserati and a white Isuzu Trooper SUV, according to a statement released by UHP Trooper Lawrence Hopper.

The driver of the Isuzu was transported to McKay Hospital in Ogden with serious but not life-threatening injuries, including a shattered pelvis and severe cuts on her head, Hopper said in the statement.

The driver of the Maserati, later identified as 44-year-old Gary Shook, was also injured in the crash, suffering lacerations to his head.

Troopers learned during the investigation that the driver of the Maserati was southbound in a northbound lane of I-15 when the incident occurred.

The Maserati struck the northbound Isuzu head-on, which flipped the SUV up and over the cable barrier before it crashed onto the left shoulder of the interstate on the southbound side.

The driver of the Maserati had been consuming alcohol before he started driving, Hopper said.

Shook was transported to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, and once discharged, he was arrested for driving under the influence and booked into the Weber County Correctional Facility in Ogden.

The driver of the Maserati could face additional charges after the crash investigation report is forwarded to the district attorney’s office, Hopper told St. George News, noting that, due to the severity of the crash, the DUI count could be enhanced.

Hopper added that any head-on crash that involves freeway speeds is, more often than not, unavoidable, due to the driver having so little time to react, if any time at all.

The fact that both drivers involved in the crash were wearing seat belts made for a better outcome, Hopper said

“In this case especially, I am convinced that her injuries would have been much worse had she not been wearing her seat belt,” he said, referring to the Isuzu driver. “Particularly with the speed that’s involved with these wrong-way driver crashes, this could have ended so much worse.”

“Always, always wear your seat belt,” Hopper said.

This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.</s>WOODLAND, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say six people have been killed in a crash caused by a wrong-way driver on a Northern California highway.

 

The California Highway Patrol says it received calls around 12:30 a.m. Sunday about a Chevrolet heading south in northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near Woodland.

 

The CHP says the 2013 Chevrolet with only the female driver inside collided with a Dodge carrying five people about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento. Both vehicles were engulfed in flames.

 

Officials say the woman in the Chevrolet and everyone in the Dodge - three women and two men - died at the scene.

 

Investigators will try to determine whether alcohol or drugs played a role.

 

The Sacramento Bee reports the Yolo County Coroner's office will release the identities of the victims.

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Six people are killed in a head-on collision and a subsequent fire caused by a single-driver vehicle going the wrong way on Interstate 5 north of Woodland, California.