Lanes Reopen After Inmate Bus Crash On I-880: CHP

SAN JOSE, CA -- A crash involving a bus full of Santa Clara County Sheriff's jail inmates shut down multiple lanes of southbound Interstate Highway 880 in San Jose on Thursday morning but has since reopened, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The crash reported at 7:24 a.m. on southbound Highway 880 just north of U.S. Highway 101 involved five vehicles. One lost control, ricocheting off other vehicles including the inmate bus. Five inmates on board the bus received minor injuries and were transported to the hospital, Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Michael Low told Patch. All have been accounted for.

According to CHP, a Toyota Prius was traveling southbound on I-880 in the second lane, and the driver was attempting to change lanes to the left, into the first lane. Traffic ahead of the Prius came to a stop and the driver was unable to avoid a collision as the Prius collided with the rear of a Toyota Rav 4. The impact from the collision caused the Prius to spin out of control into the first lane where it struck the sheriff's transport bus. The Prius then caught fire and became fully engulfed. The Rav 4 was forced forward into the back of a white Honda Civic, causing the Rav 4 to veer to the right and into a third collision with a black Honda Civic.

It appears no one in the other vehicles had to be transported to the hospital.

The crash tied up traffic for almost two hours but appears to be "moving pretty good," CHP San Jose spokesman Ross Lee said shortly before 9:30 a.m.

--Bay City News and Sue Wood, Patch