40 Vehicles Involved in Pileup amid Snow and Icy Conditions in Iowa, Causing Multiple Injuries

Vehicle pileup on Interstate 80 near Newton, Iowa.Photo: AP/Shutterstock

A crash involving 40 vehicles on an Iowa highway Thursday afternoon has left multiple people injured as the region continues to battle icy conditions.

The Iowa State Patrol said the crash occurred near the city of Newton, around 35 miles east of Des Moines, just before noon,NBC Newsreported. The accident took place within the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80, authorities told the outlet.

The Iowa State Patrolposted a videoof the scene from a KCCI viewershared with the station, writing on Facebook, “Troopers were not injured, and are going vehicle to vehicle to check on occupants. A few serious injuries and several minor injuries.”

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“Expect long delays as we and law enforcement partners assess the impacts and the roadway gets cleared,” the authorities added.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Alex Dinkla told NBC affiliateWHOThursday that the incident is “telling us vehicles are traveling way too fast for the conditions and whenever some incident is happening in front of them … they’re unable to slow down in time.”

“That’s what we see here is the commercial motor vehicle truck traffic just could not get stopped in time and had this chain reaction crash,” Dinkla added.

The accident occurred around the time the Iowa Department of Transportationcautioned residents against travel, as the north and central areas of the state were experiencing their second winter storm.

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The first major snow storm of 2021, Orlena, hit the Northeast and Midwest United States on Feb. 1, dumpingnearly two feet of snow in some cities.

In December, at least four people died and major devastation occurred as a result of acrash involving dozens of vehicles, as a giant snowstorm rolled through Northeast.

Pennsylvania state police confirmed to multiple outlets, includingThe New York Times, that the individuals who died were part of a massive pileup on Clinton County’s Interstate 80, which involved between 30 and 60 vehicles, according toFox News.

source: people.com