1 dead following multiple pileups amid snow squalls in Pennsylvania
One person has died following a 32-vehicle pileup on Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, on Friday amid snowy conditions.
PennLive reported that 55-year-old Charles M. Ehrenberg died in the crash. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to police.
Twenty-three others were taken to local hospitals. Three people had to be airlifted.
The collision occurred around 3:45 p.m. EST as a snow squall swept through the area. Visibility at nearby Hazleton Regional Airport dropped from 7 miles at 3:15 p.m. to half of a mile at 3:40 p.m.
I-81 northbound remained closed until 10 p.m. on Friday night as crews worked to clear wrecked cars and trucks from the roadway.
Other parts of Pennsylvania interstates were shut down due to the snow. I-80 had two separate crashes near each other around 2:30 p.m. The collisions occurred near mile marker 189 in Clinton County, and involved a total of 45 vehicles.
No injury information was readily available, police said.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Because all the cool kids post their snow squall time lapses. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pawx?src=hash">#pawx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PSUInnovationPark?src=hash">#PSUInnovationPark</a> <a href="https://t.co/tKVF0uIMx7">pic.twitter.com/tKVF0uIMx7</a></p>— @gadevo92 (@Gadevo92) <a href="https://twitter.com/Gadevo92/status/837824581750652928">March 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
This westbound stretch of I-80 remained closed until Saturday morning.
Earlier on Friday at roughly 11:30 a.m., about 25 vehicles were involved in a multi-vehicle accident on I-80 eastbound in central Pennsylvania between the Kylertown and Snow Shoe exits, according to the Centre Daily Times.
Not far from the I-80 crashes, two pileups involving about 40 vehicles occurred on I-99 in Centre County between exits 68 and 52, just south of State College, during a snow squall. Both lanes were closed until Friday evening.
Visibility at University Park Airport in State College dropped from 10 miles at 1 p.m. to one eighth of a mile at 2:35 p.m.
Crews begin to clear up a multi-vehicle accident along I-99 in Pennsylvania following a snow squall on Friday, March 3, 2017. (Twitter/@webcurtpsu)
