Thursday, January 8, 2015

DEADLY (3 DEAD AND 30 INJURED) 18-VEHICLE PILEUP ON I-80, PA NEAR CLARION AMID WHITEOUT; VICTIMS WERE HIT BY OTHER VEHICLES WHEN THEY EXITED THEIR OWN VEHICLES



DEADLY (3 DEAD AND 30 INJURED) 18-VEHICLE PILEUP ON I-80, PA NEAR CLARION AMID WHITEOUT; VICTIMS WERE HIT BY OTHER VEHICLES WHEN THEY EXITED THEIR OWN VEHICLES








A deadly pileup on Interstate 80 near Clarion claimed three lives, and left dozens more seriously injured.



17 cars were in a jumbled mass on the roadway in the Westbound lane of  I-80 after slick conditions caused chaos around 1:30 this afternoon, according to emergency management authorities in Clarion.



The pileup included 8 tractor trailers and 9 other vehicles.



It took about two and a half hours for responders to transport all the patients to various hospitals. 





Vern Smith, Director of Emergency Services for Clarion County, spoke to CBS affiliate KDKA in Pittsburgh by phone in the hours after the crash.



"At the time of the crash (conditions) were extremely white, snow blizzard coming down, we had two squalls that came through the county which made visibility... very difficult for transportation throughout the county," Smith said.



Traffic was detoured off of I-80 at exit 70 – Strattanville to Route 322 West to Clarion.



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A blinding whiteout yesterday in western Pennsylvania sparked an 18-vehicle pileup that cost three people their lives and left dozens injured.



But there may be a life-saving lesson in all the winter-caused carnage.



According to Pa. state police near Clarion, at least two of the victims died after exiting their vehicles at the scene and then being struck by oncoming vehicles.



Thus, the moral of this tragic story may be to stay in one's car, if at all possible.



Philly.com reports that two people died at the scene on Interstate 80 and a third en route to a hospital.



In all, Nine trucks, several of them tractor-trailers, and nine cars were involved in the crash that occurred at 1:40 p.m. yesterday in the westbound lanes of I-80 in Clarion Township, state police tell the website.



"There was a whiteout. There was very heavy snow at the time with visibility virtually zero," Clarion County Emergency Services director Vern Smith told Philly.com.