snow squall causes 3 to die after a mass pileup on a Pennsylvania highway
At least three people have been killed after a snow squall led to a multi-vehicle crash on a Pennsylvania highway on Monday, state coroner's office spokesman John Mika confirmed.
Heavy fog and precipitation from the squall caused a mass pileup of about 40 vehicles on Interstate 81. About 20 people were taken to area hospitals, according to John Blickley, deputy emergency management coordinator for Schuylkill County.
Over two dozen fire companies responded to the crash, where multiple vehicles were on fire, Blickley said.
The pileup happened shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Monday in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 near mile marker 116, Blickley said. The location is about 50 miles west of Allentown. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation wrote in a tweet Monday morning that all highway lanes were closed near the crash.
Mike Moye was one of those caught up in the crash and captured video of the mayhem. he was driving on I-81 when the snow and fog made it difficult to see the road, so he pulled his Dodge Charger over to the side of the highway. "I thought it was going to be okay. I thought the cars in The back would know to slow down, but no one slowed down. They just kept piling up.
Moye got out of his car and walked off the road, and began filming as a series of cars and trucks skidded down the road and slammed into the backs of other vehicles.
In the video, a black sedan crashes into a highway sign; white 18-wheeler slams into the back of two other vehicles; two other cars drive into the back of the 18-wheeler, and a minivan swerves off the road. A car then comes flying into the wreckage and slams into the black sedan and Moye's car as he screams, "Watch out!"
Down the road, vast plumes of smoke flood out of a truck that caught fire, the video shows. Moye was not injured.
Other videos show the aftermath of the pileup. Drone footage shows dozens of cars and trucks pointed in various directions across the road.
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