GREEN RIVER, Wyo. (AP) — Investigators in Wyoming started sifting by means of the wreckage inside a freeway tunnel Saturday after smoke, hazardous chemical substances and structural considerations prevented them from figuring out how many individuals might have died within the fiery pileup.
At the least two individuals have been killed and 5 others have been critically injured in Friday’s multivehicle crash, officers mentioned. The crash occurred within the westbound tunnel of Interstate 80 below Citadel Rock, a snow-covered sandstone formation that looms over the city of Inexperienced River within the state’s southwest.
“It’s actually going to be an extended course of simply due to the magnitude of the incident after which having the ability to doc all the pieces that we have to ensure that our investigation is thorough,” mentioned Maj. James Thomas of the Wyoming Freeway Patrol.
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As soon as officers are in a position to pull automobiles out, they are going to work with the county coroner, he mentioned. Authorities nonetheless have but to have the ability to depend all of the automobiles concerned.
Pictures of the scene Friday confirmed crumpled semitrailers exterior the smoke-blackened mouth of the tunnel, which is a few quarter-mile lengthy (400 meters).
Randy Ringstmeyer, a Wyoming Division of Transportation engineer, mentioned there was intensive hearth injury within the center third of the westbound tunnel. The blaze broken its concrete lining, inflicting unfastened concrete to fall and requiring first responders to keep away from these areas.
Interstate site visitors was being rerouted by means of Inexperienced River. Officers aimed to reopen the eastbound tunnel in three days so it could possibly host two-way site visitors whereas the westbound part stays closed. Engineers have been unable to estimate when the westbound tunnel would reopen.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned it has opened a security investigation along with the freeway patrol.
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