Two people were killed in a Mini Cooper early Thursday on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge, reportedly after the car stalled and was struck by a pickup truck.

The fatal accident occurred around 4:15 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the Bay Bridge, just west of Treasure Island. As KTVU reports, a Mini Cooper with three people in it stalled in one of the righthand lanes, and it was subsequently struck by a Toyota Tacoma.

Firefighters worked to extricate the passengers from the Mini Cooper following the crash.

The driver and a rear passenger in the Mini were both killed, while another passengers, as well as the driver of the Tacoma, were both hospitalized with minor injuries.

A Sig-alert was issued for the eastbound Bay Bridge, and traffic backed up into San Francisco for several hours after all but one of the eastbound lanes of the bridge was blocked for the subsequent investigation.

The vehicles were eventually cleared around 6 a.m., and the bridge opened thereafter — however traffic heading toward the bridge in San Francisco remained heavy into the early commute hours as the cleanup continued.

The collision calls into question what one should do if one's car becomes disabled on a freeway or a bridge where there is little room to pull over.

CHP Officer Mark Andrews tells KTVU that one should pull to the shoulder and try to safely exit the vehicle if possible, however if no safe area exists one should stay in the vehicle with seatbelt fastened and call 911.

Photo via Citizen app