The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said 59 vehicles crashed in a snowy pileup along a western Pennsylvania highway, and three people were hurt.
PennDOT spokesman Jim Carroll says 22 tractor-trailers and 37 cars are involved the crash on Interstate 80 near DuBois in Jefferson County.
The county's director of emergency services, Tracy Zents, says the three people suffered minor to moderate injuries and were transported to hospitals.
Snow moved in quickly Thursday morning, covering the highway. Some cars came to a stop, but drivers behind them couldn’t avoid a crash.
“I tried to stop,” said one driver. “I got pushed over into the other lane, and I stopped. Then other cars starting coming along. A truck passed over. He was going about 60 and ran into the ditch. It just started piling up after that.”
The crash was one of three that shut down different stretches of I-80 in the western part of the state.
Lake effect snow bands were being blamed for slick roads and poor visibility.
A jack-knifed tractor-trailer caught fire in Mercer County near the Ohio border.
Another crash closed a separate stretch of the highway elsewhere in Mercer County.
PennDOT temporarily reduced the speed limit in Mercer, Venango, Clarion and Jefferson counties due to winter weather conditions.
Drivers were asked to travel below 45 miles per hour.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
WPXI
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