At least 75 vehicles were involved in a chain reaction crash during a blizzard in New York on Tuesday afternoon.
The accident occurred on January 2nd at approximately 3:15 p.m. near Buffalo, New York.
According to KTLA, vehicles were traveling along a snowy Interstate 90 eastbound in high winds when one of the vehicles crashed, causing a pile up wreck directly involving 22 vehicles and indirectly involving at least 53 more, leaving a total of 75 cars strewn across the roadway in the massive accident.
Multiple people had to be extricated from wrecked vehicles, but most sustained only minor injuries. At least two people involved in the wreck sustained serious injuries, but only one of those people was considered to be in critical condition.
One witness who saw the incident described the event as “freaking bonkers,” as traffic began backing up for miles along I-90 eastbound.
ALERT – BUFFALO: I-90 between exit 50 and 48A remains closed at this hour due to emergency vehicle activity. Eastbound traffic is being diverted off of exit 50 (I-290). Westbound traffic must exit at exit 48A (Pembroke).https://t.co/BKdocNgo6C pic.twitter.com/5Ho2vqgawi
— NYSThruwayAuthority (@NYSThruway) January 2, 2018
As of 4:30 p.m., crews were still working to clear the wreckage from the roadway, blocking the eastbound lanes of I-90 between exit 50 and exit 48A. Motorists are being diverted at exit 50 and are urged to use local streets as an alternate route.
Blizzard-like conditions along the east coast are expected to last through the night in the states of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, but are expected to clear by early morning on Wednesday, January 3rd.
