At least seven people were killed and dozens injured Monday when 158 vehicles crashed during “super fog” conditions on a Louisiana highway, authorities said.
Additional drivers may have been found dead as first responders sifted through a burning and crushed car involved in a series of pileups in both directions on Interstate 55, Louisiana State Police said.
The exact number of injured is unknown but at least 25 people were rushed to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical.
Governor John Bel Edwards issued a call for blood donors to replenish supplies following the accident.
Officials said the destruction may have been caused by superfog – a combination of smoke from a nearby wildfire and thick fog – which severely limited visibility on the road.
Responders are seen nearly dead after a multi-vehicle pileup on I-55 in Manchac, La. on Oct. 23 2023.AP
One survivor said he heard metal crunching and tires exploding as the cars crashed into each other for at least half an hour straight.
“It was ‘Boom. Boom.’ All you kept hearing was crashing for at least 30 minutes,” Clarencia Patterson Reed told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
Reed was driving with his wife and niece to Manchac when he found himself in the middle of one of the multi-car pileups. He said he saw people on the road signaling for him to stop, but when he pumped the brakes he was hit from behind and on the side by two other vehicles.
Vehicles crushed, crushed under each other and partially engulfed in flames.AP
He was largely unhurt and was able to wriggle out of his car, but his wife was trapped inside with injuries to her legs and side, he told local newspapers.
Another driver told the outlet that a pickup truck hit his vehicle “and took me for a ride” after he hit the brakes to slow down.
Christopher Coll, 41, had to open his passenger door to crawl out of his mangled car. Once outside, he ran to help others trapped in their vehicles and pulled one out through their car window, he said.
Twenty-five people were injured and the death toll could rise.AP/Gerald Herbert
Many vehicles caught fire — adding dark smoke to the super-hazy sky — and complicating rescue efforts. At least one car went over a raised curb into the waters of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, but the driver escaped unhurt, according to state police.
The wreck stopped traffic in both directions on I-55 for miles and authorities brought in school buses to pick up stranded drivers.
As the sun went down, the smell of smoke still hung in the air as dozens and dozens of charred cars remained on top of each other on the interstate where firefighters searched for bodies and any survivors.
Many people initially stood on the side of the road or on the roofs of their vehicles looking in disbelief at the disaster, while others screamed for help.AP Several hours after the accident, the smell of burning debris could still be felt in the area.AP
A tanker truck carrying dangerous liquids is being unloaded from the crash site.
None of the dead had been publicly identified Monday night as state troopers were still working to notify families.
State troopers are investigating the exact cause of the different crashes and have asked the Louisiana department of transportation to conduct an inspection of the I-55 bridge section, where many of the pileups occurred.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
