Heavy snowfall accompanied by 40 mph winds contributed to at least three multi-vehicle pileups in Indiana involving dozens of vehicles, and led to the closing of two major highways on Tuesday as authorities worked to remove the vehicles and clean the roadways.
The first crash involved 13 vehicles, including nine tractor-trailers, that caused Interstate 70 in east central Indiana to shut down. This was preceded by several other smaller crashes along westbound lanes of I-70 which were attributed to the larger pileup, according to the Washington Post.
Interstate 74 suffered the same fate after two crashes involving about 40 vehicles occurred within a half mile of one another about 20 miles west of Cincinnati. The initial accident occurred around 11:00 a.m., when a semitrailer jackknifed in the westbound lanes, collecting 28 other vehicles. This pileup caused secondary collisions involving 10 to 12 other vehicles when traffic braked for vehicles stopped by the first pileup, but went out of control.
Six people were injured and eastbound lanes were closed for hours so that emergency vehicles could reach the crash sites.
"Six people on scene were transported to local area hospitals for non-life threatening injuries, which is amazing, considering the circumstances," Indiana State Police Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said, according to ABC's Wisconsin affiliate WAOW-TV. "The first pileup involved mostly commercial vehicles, and a lot of trucks were left in pieces. There's quite extensive damage on most vehicles in the pileup, and some are completely totaled."
Wheeles added that though the eastbound lane reopened around 5:30 p.m. local time, the westbound lane remained closed despite the vehicles involved in the pileup already being removed.
These crashes came after the National Weather Service placed the majority of Indiana under a winter weather advisory, reported FOX News. It warned that strong winds, along with recently fallen snow, could create sudden whiteout conditions, presenting a hazard to many driving on area roadways.
Authorities in 40 counties across the state issued travel advisories or watches, with some of them warning of impassable roads.
