GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A long line of cars and trucks collided one after another early Sunday on a dark Florida highway so shrouded in haze and smoke that drivers were virtually blinded. At least 10 people were killed.
Visibility was so poor that when rescuers arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans to locate victims, police said. At least 18 people were hurt.
Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup south of Gainesville on Interstate 75, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire that may have been intentionally set. At least a dozen cars and six semi-trailers were involved, and some burst into flame.
Photographs of the scene revealed a gruesome aftermath, with twisted, burned-out vehicles scattered across the pavement and smoke still rising above the wreckage. Cars appeared to have smashed into the big rigs and, in one case, a motor home. Some cars were crushed beneath the heavier trucks.
State police estimated that wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile in both directions.
At least 18 people were treated at an area hospital. Dr. Timothy Flynn, chief medical officer for Shands Healthcare at the University of Florida,
said most of those treated had head and chest injuries or broken bones.
All six lanes of the interstate — which runs the length of Florida — were closed until late afternoon as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters put out the last of the fires.
Part of the road melted, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said.
