Mother, 2 children hospitalized after fiery crash on Hwy 101 in San Rafael

MARINWOOD, Calif. (KGO) -- In the words of one witness, "This was mayhem."

A crash in Marin County this morning sent three members of one family to three separate hospitals. A three-year-old-boy is at Oakland Children's Hospital, his six-year-old sister is at Marin General Hospital and their mother was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center.

The accident happened at roughly 8:30 a.m. on northbound Highway 101, just past the St. Vincent on-ramp. The CHP tells us the family's Toyota SUV hit the center divider then flipped over and over while falling 70 or 80 feet down an embankment. The SUV caught fire. Passers-by carried the mother, who had been driving, to a hillside at least 100 feet away.

Officer Barclay describes some confusion at first, because Novato Fire Department paramedics found the two children lying on the highway shoulder. "At first, we thought they had been tossed from the car. Now, it appears someone pulled them out."

A tow truck pulled out the SUV and the highway opened just past 11 a.m. By then, the back-up heading north extended two miles.