The news so far indicates a Tesla crashed head-on into a truck, and as many as three other cars were then involved.

“Tesla is coming down the street, La Brea, going southbound, about 80, 90 mph. We didn’t hear the normal sound you would hear, electronic sound. We heard like scratching and scraping going on, lost control, smoke was going on,” said witness Jeron Jackson. “It smashed into that pickup truck over there on the corner there, and then it turned around and bounced off the pickup truck and hit the other vehicle that was going northbound.”

Scratching and scraping sounds suggest the Tesla suspension failed, at high speed on uneven surfaces.