Death toll rises to 6 after 80-vehicle pileup in Pennsylvania caused by snow squall
The death toll from an 80-vehicle pileup on a Pennsylvania highway Monday has risen to six people, state police reported Wednesday.
Police also said 80 vehicles were involved in the crash — 39 commercial and 41 passenger vehicles — up from previous estimates of more than 50. The names of those who died have not been released.
The crash occurred around 10:30 a.m. Monday as a snow squall — an intense, short-lived burst of heavy snowfall accompanied by gusty wind — blinded drivers and led to a fiery crash on Interstate 81 near Minersville, about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Police reopened the interstate just after midnight Wednesday, according to a tweet from Pennsylvania State Police spokesman David Beohm. The collision closed all lanes of I-81 north in Schuylkill County at the time and highway message boards were redirecting traffic.
Related video: Deadly, chain-reaction crash shuts down snowy Pennsylvania interstate
Once all cars were cleared, construction work was done to the road before it was reopened.
The crash also injured 24 people, who were taken to hospitals.
What is a snow squall? The weather phenomenon caused a whiteout in New York and Pennsylvania
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Snowy conditions and fires initially made it difficult for emergency services to access the scene. The road was already covered with snow prior to the squall and the pileup , making driving conditions even worse.
Three tractor trailers caught fire and at least two other small fires were reported, said John Blickley of the county's emergency management office.
"This is probably the most significant crash we've had on the interstate in years," Blickley told USA TODAY on Tuesday.
A video shared on social media showed tractor trailers losing control and slamming into each other, while another showed someone jumping out of the way as an SUV struck a passenger car, sending it spinning.
While snow squalls typically only last about an hour and might only leave behind a moderate amount of snow, the phenomena can create deadly highway conditions, suddenly reducing visibility for drivers and causing slick roads.
The crash wasn't the only recent pileup caused by snow squalls in the area. In mid-February, four people were injured in a 50-car pileup blamed on a snow squall on the same interstate, WGAL reported. No one was killed in that crash.
Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Interstate 81 Pennsylvania crash: 6 dead after 80-vehicle pileup
