More than 100 vehicles, including semi-trucks, slammed into each other and careened off the side of an interstate in Michigan on Monday as wintry conditions devastated the state.
Michigan State Police was forced to close both directions of Interstate 196 southwest of Grand Rapids just after rush hour Monday morning so officials could remove stranded vehicles.
The front end of the crash involved mostly semi-trucks, according to aerial footage from FOX Weather, and police said they counted 30 total on site.
A pileup with about 100 cars occured amid winter weather conditions, shutting down part of Interstate 196 southeast in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Chicago Midwest & Midwest Storm Chasers via Fox WeatherPolice said there were numerous injuries reported, but no fatalities.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office was flooded with reports of multiple crashes and jack-knifed semis, all linked to Monday’s pile-up.
The stranded motorists were bused to Hudsonville High School, which had off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and was turned into a makeshift reunification center.
Police first received reports of the crash after 10:30 a.m. local time. Michigan DOT vis Fox WeatherIt’s unclear how long the interstate will be closed.
The crash was caused by heavy lake-effect snow, which provided just a quarter-mile of visibility on top of winds gusting between 25 and 40 mph.
Monday’s chaos came less than a week after winter weather played a factor in another major highway pile-up.
Last Wednesday, 30 vehicles and at least 10 semis crashed on Interstate 80 in Indiana amid snowy conditions.
