FORT WORTH, Texas — At least five people were killed and dozens were injured after a crash on I-35W southbound near downtown Fort Worth on Thursday morning led to a massive pile-up of vehicles, including multiple 18-wheelers as well as police and MedStar vehicles, officials said.
Fort Worth police confirmed five victims have died. MedStar reported they were pronounced dead on the scene.
Between 75 and 100 vehicles were a part of the roughly mile-long wreckage, and the total number of people who suffered injuries wasn’t immediately known as authorities were processing the scene, according to police.
MedStar transported at least 36 people to hospitals by around 10:30 a.m., spokesman Matt Zavadsky said. There were several people with critical injuries, he said, and several people with serious injuries.
The crash scene, Zavadsky said, was spread across the icy roadway, and medics were finding new victims every few minutes as they went from vehicle to vehicle. They had to extricate several people who were trapped.
Lisa Salinas, a clerk at a nearby 7-Eleven, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that around 5:30 a.m., six to eight victims from the crash walked into the store, waiting for help. They were OK, she said, but shaken up.
A Fort Worth jailer who had been in the crash told her his car just started sliding.
“His car got hit several times,” Salinas said.
There continue to be long delays on I-35W, with southbound lanes closed surrounding the crash. It’s unclear how long lane closures could last.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said in a statement on Twitter the city had activated the Emergency Operations Center to help manage the response to the crash.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 124 available ICU beds available in the Trauma Service Area E of Texas, which covers 19 counties including Tarrant.
In a news conference from I-35W around 10:20 a.m., Fort Worth police spokesman Daniel Segura said the scene remained active and drivers should avoid the area. First responders, including firefighters and MedStar medics, were continuing to make sure all victims on the highway have been attended to.
“I would like to ask everyone please keep in your prayers the family members of the loved ones who have lost their lives in this tragic accident,” he said.
Segura confirmed to the Star-Telegram in an email an officer was involved in the crash. That officer was in stable condition, he said.
The major crash comes after overnight freezing rain and some sleet coated the Dallas-Fort Worth region in ice, creating slick and dangerous roadways.
Zavadsky noted medics are worried about the cold, with temperatures in the mid-20s, and the possibility that victims still trapped in vehicles could develop hypothermia. MedStar had several ambulance buses on the scene where people could warm up.
More than 30 MedStar units responded to the scene, Zavadsky said. He worried, too, about medics spending prolonged time in the cold.
A photo from the Fort Worth Fire Department, shared over Twitter around 7:30 a.m., showed a few 18-wheelers damaged and crammed together on a stretch of highway.
