Mass Casualty Incident Declared After Santa Maria Crash Injures 14 People

A Mass Casualty Incident was declared Thursday morning after 14 people were injured in a traffic collision in the 1900 block of Highway 1 across from the Rancho Maria Golf course in Santa Maria.

Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Dave Zaniboni said the crash involved a Honda Civic and a passenger van carrying farm workers.

Two occupants from the Honda Civic suffered moderate injuries, and 12 occupants from the passenger van suffered minor injuries, according to Zaniboni. They were all taken to Marian Regional Medical Center in four ambulances.

The crash, which happened just after 5:30 a.m., closed the roadway for about 20 minutes while crews worked to clean up the scene.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.