2 Dead in 150-Car Pileup

As many as 120 hurt in Texas accident
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 22, 2012 1:24 PM CST
Updated Nov 22, 2012 2:37 PM CST
One Dead in 140-Car Pileup
Traffic backs up on the eastbound lane of Interstate 10 on Thanksgiving day Nov. 22, 2012 after a multi-vehicle accident in southeast Texas.   (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco)

Dense fog may have contributed to a horrific Thanksgiving morning pileup in Texas: At least 150 cars were involved, and two fatalities have been confirmed so far, Reuters reports. As many as 120 people were injured; KFDM reports that at least eight of them were in critical condition. Emergency workers were searching for more people who may be trapped inside their vehicles."We have 18-wheelers on top of cars, we have cars on top of cars. It's just catastrophic," says a sheriff's spokesman.

The man and woman who died were in an SUV that was crushed by a tractor trailer. Interstate 10 was shut down in both directions after the pileup, which occurred about 15 miles west of Beaumont, and several hundred cars were stuck on the highway. The westbound lane has since reopened, but the eastbound lane is expected to stay closed hours longer. People were cleared from the area around an 18-wheeler when it began leaking, as authorities attempted to determine what chemical it was carrying, 12 News reports. (More multi-vehicle pileup stories.)

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