Update: Two fatalities in massive pileup on I-10 in south Texas
By: Nancy Cook
Updated: November 22, 2012
NBC News reports that two people died and dozens were hurt this morning when around 100 vehicles crashed in heavy fog along Interstate 10 near Beaumont, Texas, the local sheriff's office told NBC News.
Between 80 and 120 people were hurt, said sheriff's office spokesman Rod Carroll. Eight of the injured were in serious condition, he added.
"We have 18-wheelers on top of cars, we have cars on top of cars. It's just catastrophic," he said, adding that rescuers were still looking for victims.
Two bodies were found underneath a tractor-trailer, Carroll said.
The highway had been crowded with motorists traveling during the Thanksgiving holiday. Many of the vehicles were moving close to the posted speed of 70 mph despite dense fog that limited visibility, Carroll said.
Both directions were closed for several hours before westbound lanes were reopened. Eastbound lanes were still closed.
Denise Richter, a spokeswoman for Acadian Ambulance Service in the area, said her company had transported 51 people to five hospitals. Eight of them were critically injured.
