Passenger dies after box truck rear-ends bus on Bay Bridge, CHP says

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A passenger in a box truck died early Wednesday morning after authorities said his driver rear-ended a Golden Gate Transit bus in a traffic collision that also sent the driver and a second passenger to the hospital with serious injures, according to the California Highway Patrol. 

Sgt. Robert Powers said at this point officers are treating this as a "criminal investigation," not necessarily because a crime had occurred, but because of the serious nature of the crash. He advised drivers to be patient and look for alternate routes because the backup could be seen for miles in the westbound direction of Interstate 80 east of Treasure Island Road in San Francisco. 

WATCH: Traffic on WB I-80

Priya Clemens, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge, said that the box truck struck thebus, which is considered a "BART bus bridge" about 4:30 a.m. The bus operates between El Cerrito Del Norte and the Salesforce Transit Center. There were passengers on the bus, but none were taken to the hospital, the CHP said.

The accident was first reported about 4:30 a.m. The box truck was uprighted about 7:30 a.m. And all lanes were reopened before noon.