Highway cleanup continues after massive wreck in Mich.
GALESBURG, Mich. — A section of Interstate 94 in Michigan was expected to re-open sometime Saturday night after a 193-vehicle accident the previous day.
Michigan State Police Lt. Dave Wood said Saturday afternoon all 133 vehicles in the westbound lanes had been removed, but the eastbound lanes still were blocked.
Wood said four trucks were still on the highway, including a tanker carrying formic acid. A hazardous materials team arrived at mid-afternoon Saturday to remove the remaining chemical from the damaged truck.
Woods said the westbound lanes wouldn't be opened before the rest of the freeway was cleared.
The Michigan Department of Transportation will have to inspect the road surface and then once it is plowed and salted the highway will be open, Wood said.
The road has been closed since before 10 a.m. Friday, when icy and snowy conditions apparently caused accidents in both directions near the 90 mile marker in Kalamazoo County between Galesburg and Battle Creek.
The eastbound crash included 26 trucks and 34 cars. The westbound crash involved 50 trucks and 83 cars. Several trucks in the eastbound crash caught fire and burned for hours. Besides the truck carrying the acid another semi had a load of fireworks which caught fire and exploded about noon.
A truck driver, Jean Larocque, 57, of St. Chrysostome, Quebec, died in the eastbound crash. State police said 22 other people, including two firefighters and a wrecker driver, were hurt in the crash or at the scene afterwards. None of those injured were reported in serious condition Friday night.