PINE VALLEY, Calif. – A man who was trying to help a crash victim fell to his death Wednesday morning when he jumped over the railing of the Pine Valley bridge to avoid another crash, authorities said.

The collision was reported shortly before 5:15 a.m. on westbound I-8 at the bridge over Pine Valley Creek when a Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by a 32-year-old Campo man struck the side of the bridge, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Travis Garrow.

A motorist in a Subaru Outback stopped at the crash scene to help the driver, according to Garrow.

Then, a 33-year-old Campo man driving a Chevrolet 1500 truck was pulling over to also assist when a 24-year-old Campo man driving a Kia Sorento crashed into the Chevy truck. At least one other car slammed into the wrecked vehicles, he said.

When CHP officers arrived, the Subaru driver was unaccounted for and a search began.

“As this collision occurred, the Good Samaritan ran to the south road edge and jumped over the bridge rail,” Garrow said. “Unfortunately, the Good Samaritan fell to the bottom of the Pine Valley Creek where he sustained fatal injuries.”

The San Diego County Medical Examiner was called to the scene at 6:45 a.m. after authorities found a body under the bridge, the CHP said. No details about the victim were immediately available.

The man driving the Ford in the initial crash suffered minor injuries, officials said. People involved in the second crash were uninjured.

“At the time of these collisions the weather was foggy, dark and the roadway was icy,” Garrow said.

There was no indication that drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash, CHP reported.