Mother and young daughter killed at north I-5 checkpoint after rear-ending delivery truck in San Diego, California

A woman and her small daughter died Tuesday when their SUV smashed into the back of a grocery store delivery truck on north Interstate 5 south of the Orange County line. Many drivers who witnessed the crash or saw the wreckage right after were distraught, one woman posted on Twitter. Northbound traffic was halted for nearly an hour. Even after two lanes opened, the backup worsened and extended as far south as Oceanside Boulevard. The collision occurred about 9:20 a.m. when the tractor-trailer rig stopped in the right lane to exit at the truck scales between Las Pulgas and Basilone roads, near the Border Patrol checkpoint, a California Highway Patrol Officer said. He said a woman driving a GMC Yukon also was in the right lane and hit the back of the truck at freeway speed. The Yukon was demolished and the truck’s back axle broken in the impact. Firefighters cut apart the vehicle, but both mother and child were dead. Authorities estimated the girl to be about 4 years old. She was in a car seat in the back seat. All northbound traffic was halted when a medical helicopter landed on the freeway, but it turned out that it was not needed. The truck driver was unhurt. People tweeted that the truck driver was traumatized and Border Patrol agents were emotional as they covered the bodies.