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Tragic 100 Vehicle Pile-Up Brings Out Massive Holiday Humanitarian and Disaster Response

Posted byHoumanitarian

A Pearland couple was killed Thursday in a massive wreck west of Beaumont, which officials attributed to low visibility from dense early morning fog as well as speeding traffic.

At least four separate wrecks involving more than 100 vehicles, including many tractor-trailers and at least one tanker, had closed Interstate 10 near Beaumont for most of the day.
Officials said emergency calls started coming in about 8:45 a.m. while witnesses said the accidents happened around 8:30 a.m.

The accident, or accidents, started around 9 a.m. and by 9:30 the freeway was closed in both directions near mile marker 833, said Stephanie Davis, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Beaumont district. The crash site is close to the Jefferson/Chambers county line.

Late Thursday, DPS identified the dead as Vincent Leggio, 64, and his wife, Debra Leggio, 60. They died after their 2007 Chevrolet SUV was struck by an 18-wheeler, according to authorities. At least four dozen people were injured, many critically.

Drivers help save lives in 100 car pile up
(KFDM 6 News, Beaumont)

Fifty-one people were transported to the hospital by Acadian Ambulances, their spokeswoman told the Beaumont Enterprise. Eight of them were for critical injuries. At one point, both directions of the interstate were closed. The westbound lanes reopened about noon and the eastbound lanes about 5 p.m., DPS said.

Several of the injured were in critical condition, said Denise Richter, spokeswoman for Acadian Ambulance Service. She said that 22 ambulances from the Beaumont, Houston and Lake Charles, La. areas were called out to the accident. Richter reported the service had taken 51 people to Beaumont area hospitals.

The freeway was shut down for about 2 miles, Davis said.

How the pileup began wasn’t immediately clear, but Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Rod Carroll told The Associated Press the fog was so thick that deputies didn’t immediately realize they were dealing with multiple accidents. “It is catastrophic,” Carroll said. “I’ve got cars on top of cars.”

Carroll said uninjured drivers tried to help as authorities sorted through the wreckage.
“It’s just people helping people,” Carroll said. “The foremost thing in this holiday season is how other travelers were helping us when we were overwhelmed, sitting and holding, putting pressure on people that were injured.”

(Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)

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