At least seven people were killed this week in a slew of crashes along Interstate 55 in Louisiana that involved at least 158 vehicles, state police say.
More than 25 people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to critical, Louisiana State Police said. And many victims sought medical help on their own, authorities said.
Meteorologists earlier said “super fog” had heavily impacted the area, just west of New Orleans, around the time of the pileups. Super fog is a thick fog that develops in damp, smoky conditions and can send visibilities plummeting to less than 3 meters, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.
Some of the vehicles caught on fire after the initial crash, authorities said. One of the vehicles involved in the wrecks was a tanker truck carrying “hazardous liquid,” police said.
