San Jose CHP said there was first a single-vehicle crash involving a pickup truck that lost control around 12:30 a.m. Monday just south of Fair Oaks Avenue.
[Ads /]
This then caused a chain reaction of additional crashes.
RELATED: 'Always smiling': Friend remembers victim in Hwy 101 multi-car crash that killed 3 in Sunnyvale
'Always smiling': Friend remembers victim in Hwy 101 multi-car crash that killed 3 in Sunnyvale
"Involved in the collision on the northbound side, we have at least six vehicles," San Jose CHP officer Ross Lee said. "An additional vehicle on the southbound side."
Officer Lee said drivers and passengers of those cars got out of their vehicles, standing somewhere on or near the roadway.
The three who were killed were all men. Two of the victims were sent over the center divider by subsequent crashes, landing on the southbound side, according to Lee.
"They stopped within the lanes, got out of their vehicles to assess damage and check on the other drivers, to make sure that everyone was okay," Lee said.
MORE: 1 dead, 3 injured after multi-car collision in south San Jose, police say
[Ads /]
CHP believes the two were then killed by a car traveling southbound.
For much of the morning, crews were working to clear the scene.
MORE: Good Samaritan killed by hit and run driver in Fremont, CHP says
The CHP is considering all three victims killed as pedestrians since they got out of their cars and has identified them as adult men.
Five other people were taken to the hospital.
There were at least six cars involved on northbound side, and one car involved on the southbound side, which CHP is treating as a separate incident.
[Ads /]
CHP said it is still trying to determine the sequence of events that led to the deaths of three people and the overnight pile-up.
The CHP says that there is no indication that alcohol was involved.
Northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 101 have reopened after being closed for over eight hours since the incidents.