2023-10-24 02:52:47
New Orleans (dpa) – At least seven people were killed in an accident in dense fog involving a total of 158 vehicles in the US state of Louisiana. At least 25 other people were injured, some of them seriously. The state police said they were taken to hospitals following the pile-up west of New Orleans yesterday (local time).
It is possible that more fatalities will be found. Part of the accident site on Interstate 55 caught fire, partly because a tanker truck loaded with a dangerous liquid caught fire. As soon as the vehicle has been recovered, the situation can be better assessed.
Photos released by police show a debris field of destroyed and pushed-into one another cars on both sides of the track. The highway section runs between Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain. According to CNN, meteorologists spoke of a “super fog” that severely impaired visibility between the communities of Ruddock and Manchac on Monday morning at the time of the mass collision.
The “incredibly thick fog” was caused by a combination of fog and smoke from nearby fires, according to the National Weather Service. The “super fog” is a particularly dense fog that develops under humid, smoky conditions and can reduce visibility to less than three meters, the National Weather Service said.
Unprecedented forest fires
There were various accidents, as CNN reported. In one, several trucks collided and burst into flames, the station quoted Mike Tregre, sheriff of Saint John the Baptist Parish, as saying. A vehicle was pushed over the guardrail on the interstate, but the occupants appeared to be OK. The rescue work would probably “take a while”.
Louisiana has been battling unprecedented wildfires, extreme heat and severe drought since the summer. Sixty-two percent of the state is experiencing exceptional drought, the highest category, CNN reported. The city of New Orleans said the lack of rain combined with the extreme heat of the summer had dried up wetlands and lowered groundwater levels. A fire being monitored in forested wetlands is burning on and below the surface.
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