Danville: One dead, packages spilled, in crash on I-680

Danville: Authorities identify Sacramento man killed in delivery truck crash on I-680

U.S. Postal Service worker help clean up scattered mail after a fatal crash early Monday along I-680 in Danville. (Susan Pollard/Staff)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. The USPS truck was used to gather up packages from the scene. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. The USPS truck was used to gather up packages from the scene. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. The USPS truck was used to gather up packages from the scene. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. The USPS truck was used to gather up packages from the scene. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. Traffic was backed up for hours in the area. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. Packages and mail were being gathered at the site. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

California Highway Patrol and members of the United States Postal Service work the aftermath of a fatal crash of a delivery truck along southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road in Danville, Calif., early Monday, Dec. Nineteen, 2014. The USPS truck was used to gather up packages from the scene. (Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)

DANVILLE – A truck driver carrying mail died after veering off the road and crashing into a parked minivan, spilling packages onto the freeway and bringing the Monday morning commute to a halt, the California Highway Patrol said.

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Investigators do not know why the Sacramento man lost control and crashed around Three:24 a.m. on southbound Interstate six hundred eighty just north of El Pintado Road, Officer Brandon Correia said.

The coroner’s office identified the driver as Ravikesh Kumar, 26, of Sacramento.

The privately-owned truck carried packages from a privately-owned company, he said, and ran into a Ford Windstar that was stopped on the right shoulder but had been abandoned

Nobody else was injured.

The carrier, a two-axle box truck, overturned after hitting the minivan, then struck a large metal pole, Correia said. The man needed to be cut free with hydraulic contraptions and went by ambulance to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where medics pronounced him dead.

The crash and spilled packages slowed the Monday morning commute, with stop-and-barely-go traffic backing up almost ten miles to Pleasant Hill at one point in the morning. Side streets, especially Danville Boulevard running parallel to the freeway, also became gridlocked.

Correia said it does not emerge the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He urged witnesses or anyone with information to call the CHP at 925-646-4980.

Staff writer Katrina Cameron contributed to this report. Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789.

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