Whiteout conditions cause deadly 30-car pileup in Detroit

Whiteout conditions and slick roads lead to the deaths of two children and one adult in a 30-car pileup in Detroit.

The two children who were killed appeared to be siblings, police said. The boy, 6, died on the scene and the girl, 9, died after being rushed to a nearby hospital. The children’s parents were also injured, with the mother in critical condition.

The third victim has not yet been identified.

Michigan State PoliceLt. Michael Shaw said visibility was extremely poor when crashes happened on Interstate 75 in River Rouge near the Detroit border. At least 13 people were rushed to hospitals, and others were treated at the scene, Shaw said.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” witness Steve Kendler, who observed the scene from the northbound side, told CBS Detroit. “There are mangled and tangled semis and cars; and then, about a quarter-mile down the road, there’s another set of accidents where semis are all tangled with cars; and, about another half-mile down there road, there’s another accident.”

A similar pileup involving more than 40 vehicles west of Indianapolis has closed Interstate 70 in both directions, Newser reports. There was no immediate word on injuries.

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