Woman Killed When SUV Plunges Off I-580/Altamont Pass Embankment

By Bay City News Service — A woman was killed in a fiery car crash Sunday morning after her vehicle plunged several hundred feet from Interstate Highway 580 in eastern Alameda County, a California Highway Patrol officer said.

At 8:52 a.m. witnesses reported seeing a brown SUV driving off the right shoulder of eastbound Highway 580 near the Altamont Pass, CHP Officer Kevin Bartlett said.

The SUV flipped over multiple times as it fell and burst into flames at the bottom of a steep ravine adjacent to the roadway, CHP Officer Steve Creel said.

The woman, who was alone in the vehicle, was badly burned and has not yet been identified. No other vehicles appear to have been involved, Creel said. The far right lane of Highway 580 was shut down to accommodate emergency vehicles.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.