UPDATE (Monday): The Santa Barbara County Coroner's Office has identified the woman killed as Alma Teresa Alcorta Del Lazaro, 53, of Santa Maria.
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UPDATE (2:50 p.m.) - The California Highway Patrol has released additional information on the crash Sunday morning that killed a 53-year-old woman from Santa Maria and injured two other people, including the driver officers say was responsible for the collision.
Officers say at around 5:13 a.m., dispatch received a report of driver heading northbound in the soundbound lanes of Highway 101 north of Los Alamos.
Officers say about 10 minutes later, they spotted the driver, identified as Kendra Cordova, 34, of Santa Maria, north of Clark Avenue in Orcutt. Shortly after, she reportedly crashed her 2020 Mazda CX-9 into a 1998 Chevrolet Silverado north of Santa Maria way.
The collision killed the driver of the Chevrolet. Her name has not been released. A 63-year-old man in the truck reportedly suffered major injures.
Cordova reportedly also suffered major injuries and was taken to the hospital for treatment and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to CHP.
The collision closed the southbound lanes of the highway for several hours, causing a major backup.
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ORIGINAL STORY: A portion of Highway 101 was closed in the Santa Maria area Sunday morning due to a deadly crash.
According to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, it happened at around 5:15 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the highway just south of Betteravia Road.
Fire officials report two vehicles were involved. A woman was pronounced dead at the scene and a man reportedly suffered critical injuries and needed to be extricated from the vehicle.
Another woman was said to not be injured.
While the California Highway Patrol has not released an official cause of the crash, there were reports of a wrong-way driver in the area prior to the collision.
A SIG Alert has been issued for the area due to the closure of the southbound lanes near Betteravia. Drivers can re-enter the highway at Santa Maria Way.
The highway is expected to reopen at around noon.
This story will be updated as information becomes available.
