Feb. 03--A chain-reaction crash involving around 45 vehicles on Interstate 294 Monday morning began when someone ran into the back of a state trooper's car that was pulled over for another accident, officials said.
A total of 8 people were injured in the crash, which occurred around 9:20 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-294 near 95th Street in Hickory Hills, state police said. None of the injuries were serious.
Eight people were taken in fair condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, a hospital representative said.
A state police squad car had been pulled over on the far right side of the highway when it was rear-ended, State Police Master Sgt. Paul Carlos said.
"He could hear it, see it behind him," Carlos said.
The trooper was not injured, but traffic started to slow and three semis jackknifed, causing a chain-reaction accident, he said.
Motorists pulled onto the shoulders to avoid a collision, making it appear more more vehicles were involved than actually were, he said.
Some of the vehicles involved in the crash were moved to 95th Street so investigators could get more information from drivers, Carlos said.
Roberts Park Fire Protection District and almost a dozen other suburban agencies responded to the crash, which stretched from mile marker 18¾ to mile marker 18 in the southbound lanes, Battalion Chief Aric Anderson said.
"We had ambulances from all over the place up there. Multiple other agencies, I think we had an ambulances from Summit, Pleasant View, Roberts Park, North Palos, Burbank, Bridgeview, Oak Lawn, Central Stickney, Alsip."
Most of the people injured suffered bumps and bruises and most of the car damage was minor, Anderson said.
"A lot of it was real minor stuff, but there were a few here and there that were pretty well damaged," Anderson said. "A lot of semi trucks involved too."
State police said twenty vehicles had been towed off the highway as of 6 p.m.
