At least nine people died in the tragic 100 car pile up on Wednesday in Texas on I-35, North Tarrant Express around 6:30 am.
Thirty six people were transported to the hospital. Several people were treated immediately and also released, while others left the crash site on their own but later went to get medical attention on their own. First responders called the crash ” a mass casualty accident”.
“First responders actually had difficulty getting to the vehicles” Forth Worth Fire spokesperson Mike Drivdahl said.
He continued,”As they were making their way on the freeway to get to those vehicles it is very slippery. We did have to get quite a bit of sand out here…we did everything we could to get as much traction as possible”.
One of the driver’s of a tractor trailer, Michael Howard told CBS 11 that he could “see crashes ahead of him but wasn’t able to break in enough time”.
The pileup that involved over 133 vehicles happened after freezing rain and sleet covered the morning roads. According to CBS 11 News, the roads were pretreated on Tuesday. It took hours to clear the scene but the roads are now opened back up for travel as usual.
” My hear is broken for this community as we deal with the tragic loss of so many lives and so many injuries in a scene like we have never seen before”, Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said. “So many people have lost their loved ones or had them injured and that pain is just incredible, this whole community will feel that pain”.
Anyone who has video of the crash is asked to contact the police for further investigation purposes at 817-392-4222.