6 dead on Missouri highway as MASSIVE pile-up resembles something from 'war movies'
Six people were killed in a massive vehicle pile up on a Missouri highway on Thursday morning, March 17. The fatal pile-up involved over a 100 vehicles, authorities said.
Reports said the whole thing unfolded on Interstate 57 near Charleston. It was initiated after a driver hit the brakes owing to foggy and blurry climactic conditions in the area. Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker confirmed the six deaths in an interview with KFVS.
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The first responders from Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky raced to the scene of "mass casualty motor vehicle collison" that involved 135 vehicles, Scott City Fire Department posted on their Facebook page.
The director of public safety of Charleston Department, Robert Hearnes, said, "When we got the call about 8 am, and as we approached the interstate it was a very thick fog." "When we got the call about 8 a.m., and as we approached the interstate, it was a very thick fog. You couldn’t, visibility was less than 50 feet. And so the traffic had already backed up, but we had multiple, multiple accidents on both sides of the interstate," he added.
As Coroner Parker confirmed the sixth fatality, the mobile morgue had been set up in McMickle's Charleston funeral home. The other injured individuals were treated on scene immediately and some were taken to local hospitals including many of the first responders. Parker added, "Only in one of, one of the worse war movies, or a Chicago or St Louis fire, something we’d maybe see on the news in a large city, but nothing of this nature in our area."
Zach Bolden, director of Mississippi County, shared how one person was airlifted and another helicopter had been made available as stand by on scene. One or two emergency responders were also taken to the hospitals. This incident took place around the 10-12 mile marker of the north and south bound lanes.
As expected, the roads shall be shut for several hours.
