A truck loaded with industrial gas cylinders triggered an 11-vehicle pileup on Tijuana’s Vía Rápida Oriente near the Buena Vista area around midday on Tuesday, June 9. The crash sent three people to the hospital and led to the arrest of the 51-year-old truck driver.
The white 2010 Ford F-550, operated by the company OASA, was traveling at high speed when the driver made an unsafe lane change, according to authorities. The truck struck a Nissan Altima, which then careened into nine other vehicles that had been stopped in traffic.
Three Hospitalized After Chain Reaction Crash
Emergency responders transported three injured people to local hospitals. A 39-year-old woman was taken to Hospital Florence. Two other victims, aged 62 and 65, were transported to ISSSTE Las Palmas, the federal workers’ social security hospital in the Las Palmas neighborhood.
Authorities arrested the truck driver at the scene. He was turned over to the state prosecutor’s office (FGE, or Fiscalía General del Estado) to face charges of causing bodily injury and property damage.
Major Commuter Route Disrupted
The Vía Rápida Oriente is one of Tijuana’s most heavily traveled east-west corridors. It connects the downtown core to eastern neighborhoods including Otay and the areas near the Otay Mesa border crossing. The freeway carries heavy commercial and passenger traffic throughout the day.
The pileup occurred near the Buena Vista on-ramp, close to the Santa Martha intersection. Drivers who use this stretch of the Vía Rápida should expect residual delays as authorities clear debris and investigate the scene.
The truck was carrying industrial gas cylinders at the time of the crash. While no explosions or gas leaks were reported, the presence of hazardous cargo added urgency to the emergency response. Mexico has seen several high-profile incidents involving gas transport vehicles in recent years, including a tanker explosion on a Mexico City highway in September 2025 that killed at least three people and injured 70.
This story was first reported by Punto Norte on June 9.