1 killed in three-car crash on third freeway closure in 3 days

One person was killed in a three-car pre-dawn crash that closed a portion of Interstate 10 for the third morning in a row.
It happened shortly before 3 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-10 just before 43rd Avenue.

That portion of I-10 was closed for about three hours. During that time, traffic was being diverted off the freeway at 35th Avenue and allowed back on at 43rd Avenue.The closure set off a major traffic backup, the third in three days.The Department of Public Safety was able to re-open the roadway by about 6 a.m., just in time for the bulk of the morning commute. Rush hour in that area generally starts ramping up at about 6:30 a.m., according to 3TV traffic reporter Gina Maravilla.

Unlike Wednesday's and Thursday's crashes, both of which involved semi trucks and occurred near the median and spilled over into the opposite lanes, this wreck happened near the off ramp so eastbound traffic coming into Phoenix was not affected.

The victim has not been identified. The other two people involved in the wreck appeared to be uninjured and were not taken to the hospital.The cause of the crash is under investigation.