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Six people died in the huge pileup on a Pennsylvania highway during an intense snow squall — as some cars burst into flames, state police said Wednesday.
A total of 80 vehicles — including 41 passenger cars — were involved in Monday’s spectacular chain-reaction wreck that shut down Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County for nearly two days.
State police initially estimated up to 60 vehicles were involved and at least three people were killed amid an “active snow squall” early Monday that reduced visibility to near zero along I-81.
Another 24 people were hurt during the pileup, during which several vehicles caught on fire, prompting some to flee their cars, according to a crash report released Wednesday.
“There were 6 fatalities involved in this crash,” the report indicated. “Identities of the victims’ will be released once death notifications have been made to their families.”
The portion of northbound I-81 reopened at 12:30 Wednesday following the early Monday wreck. The number of drivers still hospitalized, as well as their conditions, were unclear Wednesday afternoon, Trooper David Beohm told The Post.
“With any snow squall, you have lowered visibility, and then you have one or two vehicles crash on the roadway, and all it takes is one or two to clog up the roadway,” Beohm said of how the pileup got started. “And then the vehicles coming into the squall can’t stop or get out of the way and they all hit each other.”
Video showed some of the drivers frantically fleeing their crumpled rides. One motorist involved in the wreck, Mike Moye, said he pulled his Dodge Charger off the highway once snow and thick fog rolled in.
“I thought I was going to be OK,” Moye, who was not hurt, told CNN. “I thought the cars in the back would know to slow down but no one slowed down. They just kept piling up.”
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