Pennsylvania

Massive Pileup Leaves Snowed-in Vehicles on I-90 in Pa. Overnight

A huge pileup being blamed on lake-effect snow left part of Interstate 90 in northwestern Pennsylvania closed overnight as crews cleared away wreckage, the state Department of Transportation said.

State police said the crash closed down the interstate in Erie County early Thursday afternoon. That's when at least 15 people were hurt in chain reaction crashes near Girard, about 20 miles southwest of Erie.

The Fairview Fire Department said dozens of vehicles were involved, up to 50 or 60, according to NBC affiliate WICU.

"A couple of 18-wheelers came past us flying by in the median going about 40 or 50 (miles per hour)," Robert Morley, of Abilene, Texas, told the station. "Then one rear-ended us throwing us in the vehicle in front of us."

Most of the injuries were described as moderate. 

Keith Greiner of Buffalo, New York, told the Erie Times-News he and his wife were rear-ended and got out of the car.

He said that's when a number of tractor-trailers smashed into it, leaving his car "buried" underneath the semitrailers.

The eastbound lanes reopened about midnight, and WICU reported the westbound lanes opened Friday morning.

Snow caused havoc in Michigan earlier Thursday as well, leaving three people dead and nearly a dozen hurt in a 40-vehicle pileup near Lansing.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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