A chain reaction collision on the Highway 120 Bypass at Main Street killed one woman motorist and injured two others – one major and one minor -- Thursday morning at about 7:45, according to a CHP spokesman.

Three cars and two large container shipping rigs collided in tandem as morning commute traffic transitioning onto Highway 99 to the east came to a halt. The rigs remained on the freeway with one car ending up in the center divider, another at the rear of the second big rig and the third off the right shoulder.

Traffic was backed up in both directions for hours on the freeway while CHP officers conducted their investigation into the cause of the crashes. There have been multiple fatal accidents over the last few years with one 16-year-old Modesto teen being burned to death in the front seat closer to Highway 99.