At least six people have been confirmed to have died in a massive car pile-up on Thursday night due to winter storms around the Dallas-Fort Worth district of Texas. According to Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes, more than 100 cars crashed on Interstate 35 West in Fort Worth on Thursday, leaving at least six people dead. The pile-up was confirmed about 6 A.M.
Massive Texas Interstate crash involved over 100 vehicles
The incident was one of many recorded in Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin during Thursday's dicey weather conditions that involved freezing rain and ice accumulation, as per CNN.
According to incident reports submitted to CNN by Dallas Police Department spokeswoman Tamika Dameron, there have been at least three deaths attributed to icy roads. According to an incident report, one person died at 11:15 P.M. Wednesday in an 18-vehicle accident on the Julius Schepps Highway when a man was pinned against a retaining wall after the pile-up.
Less than two hours before the massive car pile-up and 3 miles down the road, a man was "driving at a high rate of speed" on the same slippery highway when he lost control and struck the barrier. According to the report, the driver and passenger died at the scene, while a third person in the back seat was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
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Victims of Texas car crashes are not yet identified
Authorities did not identify the victims of the accidents in Dallas. According to Dameron, over 300 incidents were reported overnight, with 103 significant accidents, 133 major accidents on freeways, 86 minor accidents, four minor accidents of city equipment, two major city accidents equipment, and one major accident of city equipment on the highway.
According to Daily Mail, firefighters are now moving car to car around Interstate 35 near Fort Worth, seeking to find people who need to be rescued immediately following the collision.
It's unclear when it started, but the video shows a FedEx truck losing control and plowing into a barrier on a downhill section of the highway. Cars behind it immediately proceeded to crash into it.
Brutal icy pile up in Fort Worth, Texas 2/11/2021.
— Bill Haus (@bill_haus) February 12, 2021
6 lives lost, sad.https://t.co/ZJIoObTY6q
Video of crash: pic.twitter.com/KjVYWbN3WK
Along the interstate, the collision scene spans 1.5 miles, and traffic is backed up for miles. Officials identify it as a 'mass casualty incident.' Cars trapped under 18-wheelers and pick-up trucks are included.
The number of people in critical condition is reportedly between 40-50. But it increases 'by the minute,' according to MedStar, an ambulance service on the field.
Thirty-six patients were admitted to the hospital by 1 P.M. Firefighters are also worrying that hypothermia in the 27 F cold may occur in stuck individuals.
It is the worst of the numerous crashes caused by the winter storm across Texas. On Wednesday night and Thursday morning, another person died in a Dallas accident, and two more were injured in other accidents.
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The ice storm caused the Texas car pile-up
They posted a photo of firefighters trying to gain access to individuals stuck inside a cargo truck that had crashed into another vehicle. Since the road is now too snowy, firefighters are having trouble reaching the cars.
Cop Daniel Segura told CNN on Thursday morning, "We can confirm multiple vehicles and at least three fatalities."
In the crash, which was announced shortly after 6 A.M., sixty-five people were injured, police said. Thirty-six persons, including three in critical condition, were transferred from the scene, police said. Several victims were examined and released on the spot, police said, while others left the crash scene on their own but went to hospitals afterward.
According to ABC News, officials added that many of the on-scene assessed patients were adults. Policemen from Fort Worth said the ice was a cause. In the Fort Worth sector, freezing rain has caused slippery roads.
