A grave collision on I-294 near O'Hare International Airport involving a semi-truck and three passenger vehicles brought northbound traffic to a standstill Wednesday evening, with all lanes shuttered for hours into the night. According to NBC Chicago, the crash occurred around 7:17 p.m., prompting Illinois State Police to block the northbound lanes near Balmoral Avenue in Rosemont. Efforts to ease the congestion allowed traffic to inch by slowly on the left shoulder, but extensive delays were expected.
The situation had travelers experiencing significant setbacks, with Total Traffic anticipating up to an hour of additional travel time as of 8:30 p.m. The Irving Park Road ramp to I-294 north was also reportedly closed to further complicate the evening commute. Authorities had yet to breathe a word about the cause of the crash or the condition of those involved as the night wore on.
It wasn't until the lanes reopened around 12:30 a.m. Thursday that the severity of the incident became clear. WGN-TV reported the crash was indeed fatal. Still, the identities of the victim or victims involved in the heartbreaking event remained a closely held fact by officials, pending the appropriate notification of kin. Recovery and investigation efforts kept the lanes closed for several hours.
