Snow Squall Leads to 50-Car Pileup on Pennsylvania Highway

A blinding snow squall led to a fiery pileup on a Pennsylvania interstate on Monday morning that concerned at the least 50 automobiles, together with a number of tractor-trailers, the authorities mentioned.

The chain response occurred round 10:36 a.m. on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County about 50 miles northeast of Harrisburg, Pa., the place an early spring burst of wintry climate overwhelmed drivers within the northbound lanes.

About 20 folks have been taken to hospitals, John Blickley, a spokesman for the Schuylkill County Workplace of Emergency Administration, mentioned on Monday. He didn’t know of any fatalities and didn’t have details about the severity of the accidents.

“The highway situations when the squall got here by way of contributed to the accident,” Mr. Blickley mentioned.

The Pennsylvania Division of Transportation referred questions concerning the crash to the Pennsylvania State Police, which wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon that fifty to 60 automobiles have been concerned within the pileup and {that a} fireplace continued to burn on the scene. It didn’t instantly present particulars, together with details about fatalities.

The pileup snarled site visitors for a number of miles on the freeway, making it tough for emergency responders to achieve the expansive wreckage. The threat of additional snow squalls additional sophisticated these efforts, prompting the authorities to close down the freeway.

One driver who was concerned within the pileup captured the chain reaction on video because it occurred, and the diminished visibility that motorists encountered. The video, which drew widespread consideration on social media, confirmed a convoy of tractor-trailers plowing into one different and skidding on the freeway.

Within the video, the motive force of a sedan narrowly averted being hit by one other automotive after hitting a freeway signal on the shoulder. One particular person might be heard yelling “go, go, go” as the person recording the footage urged different drivers to “be careful.”

Some drivers who had gotten out of their vehicles ran towards the woods as extra vehicles and vehicles slammed into the idled automobiles on the freeway.

The person who captured the chaotic sequence expressed his disbelief as an S.U.V. plowed into his Dodge Charger.

“My automotive is gone,” he yelled.

It was the second time in simply over a month {that a} snow squall was blamed for a serious pileup on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County. On Feb. 19, 5 folks have been injured in a pileup that concerned about 50 automobiles close to McAdoo, Pa., about 25 miles northeast of the place the pileup on Monday occurred, in accordance with native media retailers. None of these accidents have been life-threatening.