1 Dead as Dump Truck Plows Into Anaheim Apartment Building

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A dump truck loaded with thousands of pounds of debris veered off a Southern California freeway offramp on Tuesday and slammed into two apartment buildings, killing a resident, authorities said.

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., the truck came down the offramp to State Route 57 in Anaheim and struck a car waiting at a red light, hit two other vehicles as it careened across a road, crossed a field and smashed through the wall of a parking area, California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera said.

The truck then smashed through the back wall of an apartment, where a man in his bed was pushed into a second apartment building, the CHP said.

Rory Antoine, 61, died at the scene.

News reports showed a gaping hole in the first apartment building and the truck buried in the other building.

The truck driver was taken to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries, and a person in one of the cars was taken to a hospital for examination, the patrol said.

The trucker was conscious and speaking with investigators Tuesday evening, the Orange County Register reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the truck failed to stop or whether factors such as speed, a medical condition or drugs or alcohol may have played a role in the wreck, according to the CHP.

Patricia Johnson told KABC-TV that her apartment in one of the buildings was destroyed. Firefighters reunited her with her dog, Ears, and she wept as she held him.

“I was homeless before, and this is the first place I’ve been to on my own,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t homeless no more. And I had my dog. Me and the dog lived in the shelter. … And now we’re homeless again. But we’re together.”

The truck bore signage indicating it was owned by Pav-Kote Inc., a paving company in nearby Fullerton. An email seeking comment from the company wasn’t immediately returned.

Anaheim is 36 miles (58 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.