In a tragic turn of events, a 32-year-old Manchester man lost his life early this morning in a chaotic series of accidents on Interstate 70 in Earth City, as reported by FOX 2 Now. The multi-vehicle crash, involving no less than six cars, began after a lapse in attention caused the driver of a Ford Escape to rear-end a Hyundai Elantra, which subsequently hit the concrete median before becoming part of a dangerous pileup.
The initial collision set off a chain reaction in which the disabled Hyundai Elantra was struck by several other vehicles, including a Lincoln Corsair and a Lexus ES330, however, amidst this turmoil, the Manchester man emerged from his vehicle only to be fatally struck by an oncoming Volkswagen Tiguan, as the driver made a swerve to avoid the growing accumulation of wrecked cars, the Volkswagen then struck the pedestrian, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital; during the course of the incident four other individuals were injured and taken to hospital for treatment. The fact that everyone was wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident was noted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), as stated in the crash report, and as reported by First Alert 4.
Westbound lanes of I-70 were closed for several hours, finally reopening around 5 a.m., with traffic initially diverted onto Missouri Route 141 according to KSDK. In the aftermath, the MSHP has been conducting a thorough investigation into the crashes that disrupted the interstate in the early hours following the Christmas holiday, a time traditionally fraught with increased vehicular movement.
The recent interstate fatalities come in a week that, according to MSHP officials, saw fewer crashes this Christmas compared to last year; this includes the 65 crashes troopers handled since Christmas Eve, which led to three deaths—among them a 28-year-old mother and her two young children, as well as the issuance of a total of 17 DWIs across the state which highlights the ongoing dangers present on Missouri's roads during holiday travel, as detailed by FOX 2 Now.
