|
A 12-year-old girl was killed and at least 20 people were injured in a massive car crash pileup on Monday near the Cincinnati suburb of Colerain Township. Authorities said that the collision involved at least 87 vehicles on the snowy roads that turned to ice on Interstate 275. The incident forced authorities to close two major highways. On Monday Ohio saw isolated pockets of heavier snow fall after experiencing scattered snow showers. The treacherous snow conditions caused at least four major weather related accidents in the state that day. The accident that happened at about 11:30 a.m. on westbound Interstate 275 near the Colerain Avenue exit was the most serious of the four. Snow squall moved through the area it created a blanket of white snow or “near-white-out” conditions and ultra-slick roads, according to authorities. A chain-reaction collision involving 87 vehicles (cars, trucks, and 18-wheelers) ensued after vehicles spun out of control on the slick roads. “It was just chaos, absolute chaos,” said Lt. Tory Smith of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. Rescue members from over a dozen communities labored for more than an hour to extricate trapped motorists of all ages. Authorities said that the 12-year-old girl, Sammy Reagan, was killed when she got out of her car after the major car accident. According to sheriff’s investigators, she was standing in the median when a steel cable from a guardrail hit her; it had snapped after one of the vehicles hit it. Tony Ali, of Hamilton, saw paramedics desperately trying to save a girl who he thought was about 5 years old. He and other crash survivors tried to help remove people trapped in their cars, including an elderly couple whose car was wedged against Ali’s car, stated Cincinnati News. They are going to need a car accident lawyer. “I pray for them,” Ali said. “God blessed me. I am OK.” Scott Hickman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the squalls dropped no more than an inch of snow. But he said the snow hit quickly, reduced visibility and made roads slick. Although the temperature was in the 20s, Hickman said, the roads may have been warmer, causing the snow to melt and then refreeze. The Colerain pileup was only one of several other wrecks that happened around the same time. On Interstate 75 between the Monroe and Middletown exits there was a 52-vehicle pileup, police said.
Related Articles -
Cincinnati, 87-Car Pileup, major car accident,
| 
