Feb 20, 2008 4:19 pm US/Central
27-Vehicle Pileup Shuts Down I-94 In Indiana
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (CBS) ―
A section of Interstate 94 has finally reopened after a major pileup involving dozens of cars and semi trucks. Part of the busy roadway was shut down for about seven hours Wednesday.
The crash happened Wednesday morning in the westbound lanes of I-94 near Michigan City.
CBS 2's Rafeal Romo reports incredibly everyone walked away from the crash.
Indiana State Police say the accident was caused by a combination of extremely low visibility and speed.
Between 2 and 3 inches of snow fell overnight in the Michigan City area making driving slick along the highway near the U.S. 421 exit in Michigan City.
Truck driver Bob Hartman says he saw the chain reaction crash unfold right in front of his eyes.
"He kind of lost it and hit him and him and he got clipped by somebody else and then it was chain-reaction after that," Hartman said.
In a matter of seconds, 27 vehicles, including 14 semi-trailer trucks and 13 cars, lost control, jack-knifed, spun out of the road and crashed against each other.
"Jack-knifed semis, split open trailers… it was a mess," said tow truck operator Joe Wagner. "The ice, I believe people were just driving too fast for conditions."
"You couldn't really see nothing," said truck driver Scott Oswald. "It was pretty snowy, almost white-out conditions and stuff like that."
Leanne Tokars of CBS 2 sister station WSBT-TV/South Bend reports the pileup happened around the 37-mile marker, 3 miles east of U.S. 421 exit, just south of Michigan City, Ind., around 7:10 a.m.
When firefighters from Michigan City arrived at the scene they feared the worst, but were surprised to find five people suffered only minor injuries.
"When we pulled up it was a mess," said Michigan City Fire Department Deputy Fire Marshall Kyle Kazmierczak. "We didn't know if we were going to run out into a hazardous situation, because you don't know what these semis are carrying."
The accident forced authorities to close a six-mile stretch of I-94, leaving many travelers stranded.
"All you can do is pull over and pray," said driver Rose Mary Goodno. "I mean, that's how you get truth. Yeah, our patience has run out because we can see we can through."
Several crews have been working non-stop since early Wednesday morning painstakingly picking up by hand merchandise that was damaged in the pile-up. There was an approximately 350-gallon diesel spill, which firefighters had already cleaned up at 11 a.m.
There is still no word on the amount of damage caused by the accident.
CBS 2's Rafael Romo and WSBT-TV's Leanne Tokars contributed to this report.
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