Hundreds of cars crash on I-55, killing 7. 'The worst I’ve seen' (2024)

Editor's note: Find the latest update from Tuesday here.

Dense fog and smoke from two marsh fires collided early Monday tocreate a "superfog"that blanketed Interstate 55, causing amile of deadly, chain-reaction crashesthat killed seven motorists and shut down the highway in both directions, authorities said.

At least 158 vehicles were involved in the pileups and the search for victims was ongoing late Monday, according to Louisiana State Police. Twenty five people were transported to area hospitals with injuries, and many others sought medical assistance on their own, state police said.

Fires also broke out along a portion of the crash scene, and police were attempting to move a tanker truck carrying a hazardous liquid to better assess vehicles in that area. More fatalities were possible, they said.

"We’re grateful because we’re alive,"said Clarencia Patterson Reed, 46, who witnessed at least two people perish when their box truck crashed into a flat-bed trailer. "We’re here to tell you what we see up here because some people will not get that chance. It's bad."

State Police officials said I-55 would remain closed overnight while crews of tow trucks work to clear the roadway.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development also needs to inspect the bridges for damage from an intense fire involving at least two 18-wheelers, authorities said.

“We’ve had pileups but never like this,” said St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre, whose deputies responded to the wrecks and helped rescue motorists. “This is the worst I’ve seen in my 35 years in law enforcement. I’ve never seen it this bad.”

Horrible wrecks

The crashes were first reported just before 9 a.m. on I-55 North near the Manchac exit, according to State Police and DOTD. The wildfire smoke and morning fog left drivers with near-zero visibility as they approached the initial crashes, leading to chain-reaction wrecks.

Reed, who was driving to Hammond, said she was able to stop her vehicle before hitting the car in front of her. But the vehicles behind her began slamming into her car, one by one.

“It was ‘Boom. Boom.’ All you kept hearing was crashing for at least 30 minutes,” said Reed, whose wife, Lisa Patterson Reed, 56, was injured.

Christopher Coll, 41, of Destrehan, was headed to Ruddock for a marble and granite job when he noticed the fog and pile of vehicles in front of him.

“I was already on the brakes, slowing down when an F-250 drove up on top of my work trailer and took me for a ride,” Coll said.

Coll had to kick open his passenger door and climb over other vehicles to escape.

The smoke and smell of leaking radiator coolant drifted through the air, he said. Coll said he could hear drivers calling for help, cars crashing behind him and tires popping in fires.

He and another man stopped to help a driver trapped in a car, pulling the victim through a window.

Reed used her cellphone to record a Facebook Live video and spoke with a woman who was extracted from her car, which had been pinned underneath a pickup. Some drivers could still be seen sitting inside their vehicles as they waited for crews to remove the tons of twisted metal that trapped them inside. A St. John deputy scrambled over hoods and roofs as he made his way to a car on the far side of the pile-up.

Dazed-looking drivers sat on the concrete median or slumped on the ground while others watched the heavy black smoke wafting from the burning tanker trucks up ahead.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before. It was horrible,” Coll said.

Large response

Authorities described three clusters of collisions on I-55 North and South. The largest of them stretched for about a half-mile in the northbound lanes, Tregre said. At least one vehicle went over the side of the elevated interstate, but the driver survived,said Trooper Kate Stegall, spokesperson for State Police Troop B in Kenner.

The massive, chaotic scene generated a huge response from local law enforcement and first responders.

In addition to State Police and the St. John Sheriff’s Office, deputies from St. Charles and Jefferson Parish assisted with the crashes. Crews from the Hammond Fire Department, the Manchac Volunteer Fire Department and the St. John Fire Department were also on hand to extinguish the vehicle fires.

To evacuate the hundreds of stranded drivers, St. John Parish officials used school buses to take them to Middendorf's Restaurant in Manchac, Tregre said. The business was closed, but staffers opened up for the victims and provided water and food.

Traffic snarled

For five hours, authorities closed the Bonnet Carre Spillway in both directions to keep traffic away from Interstate 55.

Drivers who detoured off Interstate 10 were funneled into LaPlace, choking Airline Highway, Highway 51 and other major arteries. That led to more traffic crashes and difficulties navigating the parish, authorities said.

Interstate 10 reopened at 3:10 p.m. as State Police began the work of removing the wrecked vehicles on the highway.

"It's going to require a lot of tow trucks," Stegall said. "We're having to call companies from all around the area."

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday offered prayers for those hurt and killed in the crashes.

"The best way you can help — besides exercising caution on the road— is to donate blood at your local blood donation center," Edwards said. "It will help replenish supplies that are being drained today to care for the wounded.”

Though the superfog had mostly cleared by late Monday, theconditions that created itare expected to linger and remain an issue during morning commutes this week.

"With those marsh fires continuing in New Orleans, this may be something we deal with in the coming days," Stegall said.

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