4 dead in 46-car pileup in Ohio as storm blasts Christmas weekend - The Washington Post

Sgt. Ryan Purpura of the Ohio State Highway Patrol said successful a video posted to Twitter precocious Friday that 4 radical had died, with galore injured from the pileup. The names of the victims were not released, and authorities did not specify however galore were injured.

“This is simply a stark reminder of what tin hap erstwhile you get down the instrumentality and effort to thrust successful atrocious upwind conditions,” Purpura said successful the video. “We inquire that you bash not question unless you perfectly person to. If you bash person to travel, we inquire that you instrumentality precautions, instrumentality it slow, beryllium patient, deterioration your information loop and summation your pursuing distance.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) echoed authorities successful urging radical to enactment disconnected the road.

“Our sympathy goes to those families who person mislaid a loved 1 during this terrible upwind concern successful Ohio,” helium said successful a statement. “Please proceed to stay location if astatine each imaginable and beryllium vigilant with these highly unsafe roadworthy conditions.”

The fatal pileup successful Ohio was an effect of a wintertime tempest that the National Weather Service has described arsenic “once successful a generation” and is expected to carve retired a 2,000-mile way crossed overmuch of the state done the Christmas weekend. Despite much than 200 cardinal Americans being nether alerts for perchance hazardous upwind successful their area, galore travelers who defied suggestions to enactment location and faced formation cancellations, roadworthy closures and bid and autobus systems that had unopen down.

Nearly 6,000 U.S. flights were canceled Friday, according to the formation tracking website FlightAware. Roughly 1,800 U.S. flights scheduled for Saturday had been canceled arsenic of 10 a.m. Eastern time, according to FlightAware.

As radical took to the roads for vacation travel, authorities successful Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kentucky reported that astatine slightest 13 radical were killed successful crashes connected Friday.

In Ohio, officials said the archetypal crashes successful the pileup began astir 11:45 a.m. Friday, with further cars crashing into each different astir 45 minutes later. Buses were brought successful to instrumentality radical from the clang country to a installation truthful they could enactment warm, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

High-speed winds and whiteout conditions are expected successful Ohio done the weekend, authorities said, and the eastbound lanes of the Ohio Turnpike adjacent Sandusky were closed Saturday morning. Westbound lanes connected the turnpike reopened precocious Friday, astir 12 hours aft the initial crash.

In Sandusky, connected the shores of Lake Erie, assemblage members recounted however they rushed to bring lukewarm food, drinks and structure to those caught up successful the pileup.

“This is conscionable benignant of what we do,” Lucas Messer, the superintendent of Clyde-Green Springs Schools, told ABC affiliate WEWS successful Cleveland. “This is pridefulness successful our community, successful our towns and thing we tin bash to measurement up and help, anyone astir america truly is conscionable benignant of the mode we bash concern here.”

Robert Clark, who was traveling from Detroit erstwhile the wintertime upwind changed his plans, told the TV presumption that helium and his spouse “had seconds to get retired of the car.”

“We’re conscionable blessed to beryllium here, honestly,” Clark said.