Detroit, Michigan
A “nightmare pileup” on Interstate 75 claimed three lives today. The wreck is being blamed on a sudden a blinding snow squall, that created whiteout conditions.
At least 30 vehicles were involved in the accident on Interstate 75, just north of Rouge River Bridge in Detroit. Two children and 1 adult lost their lives in the accident and several others were injured.
Photo: The crash on I-75 in Detroit is reported to to be 1 mile longtwitpic.com/bzsts2
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) January 31, 2013
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” witness Steve Kendler told CBS Local Detroit, who observed the scene from the northbound side. ”There are mangled and tangled semis and cars; and then, about a quarter-mile down the road, there’s another set of accidents where semis are all tangled with cars; and, about another half-mile down there road, there’s another accident.”
“There’s just three sets of multiple vehicle and multiple trucks just all tangled up. And part of it, in the very first accident, the cap on the semi is almost sheared off,” Kendler CBS. ”These trucks just look like they’ve been … like a can opener. It’s unbelievable. They’re just mangled and all over the place.”
It was probably eight to 10 separate crashes involved in the one crash,” Michigan State Police spokesman Lt. Michael Shaw told the LA times. “There were probably 300 vehicles that were either trapped in crashes or pulled off or jackknifed.”
Photo of the back up from the massive crash on SB I-75 at Springwells in Detroittwitpic.com/bzssjy
— The Detroit News (@detroitnews) January 31, 2013
Witnesses at the site said that “visibility went from good to zero visibility” within seconds.
Hendricks County, Indiana
A 40 to 50-vehicle pileup has shutdown both directions of Interstate 70 in Indiana, near mile marker 59.
Huge pileup on I-70 in Indiana. You have to see this to believe it: twitter.com/upnorthlive/st…
— upnorthlive.com (@upnorthlive) January 31, 2013
“The interstate will be closed for at least six hours. The accident happened shortly before one today when snow squalls created slick roads and white-out conditions in the area,” Indiana News Center reported.
Injuries have been reported, but the severity of those injuries has not yet been released.
Video: 40-car pileup in Hendricks County