At least five people have died in a fiery horror crash after two semi-trucks and two other vehicles collided on Interstate 10 in Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday morning. The Arizona Department of Public Safety (ADPS) told DailyMail that figure 'may go higher' as they continue to investigate the collision - which left hazardous materials scattered on the busy highway.
Footage from traffic cameras in the area showed a fiery scene with a semi-truck and a passenger car destroyed. It took nearly 30 minutes to put the fire out and close to a dozen police officers remained on scene throughout the morning. An aerial view from the scene showed a semi-truck engulfed in flames, with the charred remains of vehicles all that remain.
Initial reports of the crash emerged shortly after 6am just east of Chandler Boulevard, near the Loop 202 Santan freeway interchange. Police said the semi-truck was going eastbound when it slammed into a car, pushing it into another semi and two other vehicles. The ADPS initially confirmed four people were involved in the crash. Two people from the first car hit died in the wreck.
Three more victims were confirmed by ADPS later in the day - although more detail is yet to be released about these fatalities. Officials told Fox 10 two other cars in front of the collision were also damaged. According to the outlet, a child's car seat was seen in one of the sandwiched vehicles. The crash marked the third wreck involving a semi in less than six hours on I-10.
Two separate crashes had shut down the freeway a few miles away at Queen Creek Road, at about 3.30am. In the first, a tractor-trailer caught fire near Riggs Road when ADPS said another semi-truck driver with a car-hauler crashed into three other semi-trucks. No one was seriously injured but extensive traffic backups began just in time for the morning commute.
ADPS police told azfamily a large amount of diesel was spilled onto the road mixed in with the debris from all four semis. According to the Arizona Department of Transport the I-10 eastbound remains closed at Ray Road due to a crash at Chandler Blvd as of 1.44pm on Thursday.
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