About 40 vehicles collided on a snowy Pennsylvania highway

POTTSVILLE, Pa. – A collision involving about 40 vehicles closed a section of Interstate 81 in Pennsylvania on Monday, according to the Schuylkill County Office of Emergency Management.

Out of control, a tractor-trailer collides with a large dump truck and rotates it about 180 degrees, another large truck spreads black smoke and orange flames into the air, and an SUV pushes a passenger car that continues to rotate the sedan, leaving the driver standing. Rarely lost. The shoulders of the Pennsylvania Highway are covered in snow and fog.

The pictures were captured in a video uploaded to social media on Monday. Officials in Schweilkill County, northeastern Pennsylvania, said a snowstorm was passing through Minersville around 11 a.m.

In a dramatic video posted on Facebook, people outside the camera can be heard screaming as the cascade of accidents unfolds in less than a minute. The person who posted the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The National Weather Service warned of “numerous short heavy snowfalls with very poor visibility”.

“Storms will quickly reduce visibility by less than one-and-a-half miles and cover roads with snow,” forecasters said, urging drivers to get off the road if possible or to turn on danger lights “and to gradually reduce to avoid a chain.” Accident. “

Mike Colbert, a forecaster at State College’s National Weather Service Office, said the meteorological service began issuing snow warnings just a few years ago, and that’s because of the kind of pileup that was reported.

“These are very heavy snow showers where if you drive in them, you can get instant blizzards in a few seconds from partly cloudy or sunny skies. That’s why they are so dangerous,” he said.

The (Potsville) Republican-Herald reports that snow conditions are hampering the fire truck’s ability to climb over Route 901 to reach the scene.