January 6, 2012
Fog and smoky conditions in Southeast Texas, near Port Arthur, caused dozens of vehicles to pile up in a major wreck early Thursday morning, reports Fox News.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Rod Carroll said that at least 10 ambulances were dispatched to the scene on Highway 73, just west of Port Arthur.
He stated that “multiple” people were injured in the string of accidents, involving as many as 40 vehicles.
“The accidents were caused by poor visibility due to a mixture of fog and smoke from march wildfires,” said Carroll.
In parts of Jefferson County, fires have recently swept through some dry marshlands.
Fox News also reported that life-flight helicopters were dispatched to the scene.
The highway was closed down completely shortly after 6 a.m. between Winnie and the Taylors Bayou Bridge, the Houston Chronicle reports. Traffic was left at a standstill for several hours.
No one was killed, but at least 54 people were injured–four of them critically–according to investigators.
What was reported as a wreck at 5:36 a.m. actually involved more than 50 vehicles in a series of accidents along the eastbound lanes of the highway in the area of the Veolia Processing Plant.
Drivers should use Interstate 10, FM 365, or Texas 124 as alternate routes, advises the Department of Transportation.
