The lack of visibility also prompted closures of parts of I-10 and the 24-mile (39km) Lake Pontchartrain Causeway at times. Traffic backed up for miles in both directions on I-55 near the community of Manchac. He was able to kick open his passenger door to escape and then helped others – pulling out one person through a car window. “I was already on the brakes, slowing down when an F-250 drove up on top of my work trailer and took me for a ride,” Coll told the Times-Picayune/the New Orleans Advocate.Ĭoll could smell smoke as he heard other drivers calling for help and the sounds of crashing cars and popping tires. Many people stood on the side of the road looking on in disbelief at the disastrous scene, while others remained in their cars waiting for aid.Ĭhristopher Coll, 41, was among the drivers in one of the pileups. Vehicles were crushed and rammed under one another, and some engulfed by flames. Videos of the wreck showed what looked like an endless junkyard of cars on the busy interstate near the community of Manchac. Governor John Bel Edwards issued a call for blood donors and asked for prayers “for those hurt and killed”. As of Tuesday evening, the death toll from the huge pileup increased from seven to eight people, the New York Times reported.Īt least 63 people have now been reported injured, with police confirming that 10 additional cars were involved in Monday’s accident.
