UPDATED 1:20 PM
One lane of northbound I-49 south of Texarkana in the area of last night's crash is open. Clean-up crews continue to work in the area. Motorists should reduce speed in the area and use caution.
UPDATED 10:45 AM
Southbound traffic lanes along I-49 south of Texarkana are open to traffic. Northbound lanes through crash scene remain blocked.
UPDATED 7:00 AM:
UPDATED: FATALITIES REPORTED IN CRASH
SCENE ALONG I-49 NEAR TEXARKANA
Three people died last night in what State Troopers initially believe were two chain-reaction collision scenes along the north and southbound lanes of I-49 nine miles south of Texarkana. At least seven people were injured and transported from the scenes by ambulance to Christus Saint Michael Health Care and Wadley Regional Medical Center in Texarkana. An unknown number individuals reported minor injuries and initially declined hospital care.
The chain reaction collisions began to occur about 11:45 PM (Monday night, December 21st) and State Troopers say dense fog was present in the area at the time which may prove to be a contributing factor in the collisions.
The first collision happened when a southbound commercial carrier truck slowed and was struck from behind by vehicle traffic. A total of ten vehicles were involved in the chain-reaction collisions along the southbound lanes.
About the same time as the first southbound collision, three commercial carrier trucks collided in the northbound traffic lanes directly across the highway median from the southbound crash scene. One of the trucks was transporting a large amount of glue that spilled from the containers onto the highway.
Detours off both sides of I-49 have been established and traffic is traveling a short distance along U.S. Highway 71 as the investigation continues and clean-up operations are underway.
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