4 dead, 17 hurt after semi truck plows into standstill traffic

Four people are dead and 17 more were hurt after a semi truck crashed into a line of stopped traffic in Michigan over the weekend.

The accident happened at 11:48 p.m. on Saturday, November 2nd near Webberville, Michigan on Interstate 96 near M-52.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, police had stopped traffic on I-96 to allow crews to string power lines across the highway, causing a traffic backup. Right as officers were beginning to reopen the roadway, a driver in a semi truck did not see the stopped traffic and crashed into the line of vehicles.

The semi truck caught fire on impact, and a man in a pickup truck was ejected from his vehicle.The ejected motorist, along with three people in another vehicle, all died in the accident. The truck driver sustained serious injuries and extensive burns in the crash, and 16 more people were hurt. Approximately 15 total vehicles were involved in the crash.

“[The semi truck] ended up just plowing into a group of vehicles. That caused an explosion and vehicles catching fire,” said Lt. Rene Gonzalez of the Michigan State Police to Fox 2 Detroit.

“First responders were by the cars, and it looked like they were trying to get into the vehicles. Then you could see the semi, but it wasn’t even a semi anymore; it was just the frame of the truck. There looked to be about four or five cars on fire,” said Breanna Barnhart, a witness to the crash, to Fox 47.

Cleanup of the wreck lasted through Sunday. The roadway was completely reopened by Monday morning. No further information has been released.