UPDATE 5:41 p.m. – I-70 has reopened following this crash.
Indiana State Police now say the crash involved 15 vehicles. I-70 westbound reopened Tuesday evening after a 7.5 hour closure. Investigators said ten semis were involved along with five passenger cars on the westbound side.
Police said there were white-out conditions in the area when a North American Van Lines semi slid and jack-knifed, just after 10 a.m. A semi behind that truck stopped but was then hit by another semi. The driver of the stopped truck suffered a broken leg.
In all, four people were taken to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators said all semis were removed except one, which will be removed Wednesday.
Police said charges in the wreck are possible.
RICHMOND, Ind. (Jan. 12, 2016) – A crash involving multiple cars near Richmond shut down westbound Interstate 70 Tuesday. The crash involved more than a dozen vehicles.
The pileup stemmed from a crash around 11 a.m. involving a semi and a car, police said. A chain reaction of collisions and slide-offs followed on the icy road in near whiteout conditions. In all, state police said the crash included nine semi trucks and four cars in the westbound lane. There were additional crashes in the eastbound lanes, police said.
Truck drivers said the crash happened in an instant.
“Out of nowhere, it was just a whiteout,” said Scott Caim, “I got hit about five different times. I got bumped around pretty good in there.”
Caim heard about the crash on the radio and started slowing down, but it was too late.
Veteran truck driver Robert Callahan said he couldn’t see anything because of the snow. His truck is totaled.
“If there would’ve been some place to pull off, I would have. But you couldn’t see,” said Callahan.
Three people were hurt, although their injuries are not considered life-threatening, according to state police.
First responders said it’s astonishing there was no loss of life.
“Worse one I’ve ever seen,” said firefighter Andy Aughe, “Absolutely a miracle that everybody’s able to walk away from this, and everybody’s going to live.”
Indiana State Police said drivers must adjust their speeds in hazardous conditions.
“When it’s snowing, when the roads are slick, slow down,” said Sgt. John Bowling, with Indiana State Police.
Caim is glad he walked away unhurt.
“I have a coin in my truck that I got from my grandma that says never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly,” he said.
That was just one of several crashes around central Indiana led to the closure of interstates around the area Tuesday morning.
South of Indianapolis, a semi jack-knifed near Franklin exit, shutting down I-65 southbound at the exit for State Road 44. The northbound lanes were also closed, according to INDOT. While traffic was still slow in the area, the interstate was reopened around 1 p.m.
In Dearborn County, multiple vehicles were involved in a crash on I-74 near mile marker 168 at the Indiana-Ohio state line. State troopers said the road could be closed for several hours. At least 30 vehicles were involved.
Close to 30 vehicles involved in I-74 crash pic.twitter.com/4xVICrMHxc
— Sgt. Stephen Wheeles (@ISPVersailles) January 12, 2016
In White County, a crash closed I-65 southbound. That crash happened near near US 231/Exit 193, according to INDOT. The interstate reopened just after 1 p.m.
