18 injured in 23-car pileup in Harvey Tunnel
Firefigthters and rescue workers go through the wreckage at the scene of a multi-car accident in the Harvey Tunnel on Friday.
30 May 2008
New Orleans, LA-An unsecured dump truck spilled a thick clay mud in the westbound lanes of the Harvey Tunnel this afternoon, causing a chain-reaction 23-car pileup that sent 18 people to area hospitals and shut down the tunnel for hours.
Harvey Tunnel Pileup
No serious injuries were reported in the accident that happened around 1 p.m. Witnesses said they saw the back gate of the dump truck swing open while inside the tunnel. The slippery mud quickly coated the roadway, causing cars to lose control and careen into the tunnel's walls and other vehicles.
Eighteen people, including a pregnant woman, were taken to area hospitals, said State Police spokesman Joseph Piglia. It was the largest such pileup in the Harvey Tunnel in decades.
The eastbound lanes of the tunnel have re-opened and authorities expect the westbound lanes to open by 7 p.m.
State Police were still trying to locate the driver of the dump truck late Friday afternoon. Piglia said police had some leads from witnesses. The driver could face charges for driving an unsecured dump truck, and could be held liable for any tunnel damage caused by the wreck.
A visibly shaken August Bertrand of Harvey stood against a tree 30 minutes after the accident, waiting for tow trucks to pull his car from the depths of the 1,100-foot-long tunnel.
"I literally puckered up and kissed my ass goodbye in there," said Bertrand, who said his legs were numb and felt stiff back pains, but didn't want to be put on a stretcher. "It was like a slush down there. There wasn't any stopping."
He had a minor head-on collision with a minivan that spun around in front of him. Parts of several cars were pinned underneath others, and witnesses said they helped several young children out of the pile. Bertrand and others limped out of the tunnel as fast as they could, smelling the pungent odors of battery acid and gasoline from the wreckage, and the putrid smell of the mud.
"I was getting out, because I thought it was going to explode," said Joyce Roussell of Marrero. Her car was the first to hit the muddy mess, but she was able to navigate around it with only a minor nick from the car in the adjoining lane.
"Nobody couldn't stop. No way. They were going too fast," she said. "Behind me I just heard them banging, banging, you know?"
For nearly three hours after the wreck, an assembly line of tow trucks backed in and out of the tunnel to ferry off the next batch of wrecked cars. Damage ranged from nicks and fender-benders to major rear-end damage.
All were caked with streaks of thick black mud.
At the time of the accident, the gnarled pile of vehicles stretched nearly halfway across the tunnel.
Workers from the state Department of Transportation and Development were sweeping up the mud, almost a foot thick in some places, once the cars were removed, using sweepers and sand to break up the chunks. Buzzy Wegener, DOTD's assistant district administrator of operations for New Orleans, said the accident caused no major damage to the tunnel walls.
Harvey Tunnel Pileup
No serious injuries were reported in the accident that happened around 1 p.m. Witnesses said they saw the back gate of the dump truck swing open while inside the tunnel. The slippery mud quickly coated the roadway, causing cars to lose control and careen into the tunnel's walls and other vehicles.
Eighteen people, including a pregnant woman, were taken to area hospitals, said State Police spokesman Joseph Piglia. It was the largest such pileup in the Harvey Tunnel in decades.
The eastbound lanes of the tunnel have re-opened and authorities expect the westbound lanes to open by 7 p.m.
State Police were still trying to locate the driver of the dump truck late Friday afternoon. Piglia said police had some leads from witnesses. The driver could face charges for driving an unsecured dump truck, and could be held liable for any tunnel damage caused by the wreck.
A visibly shaken August Bertrand of Harvey stood against a tree 30 minutes after the accident, waiting for tow trucks to pull his car from the depths of the 1,100-foot-long tunnel.
"I literally puckered up and kissed my ass goodbye in there," said Bertrand, who said his legs were numb and felt stiff back pains, but didn't want to be put on a stretcher. "It was like a slush down there. There wasn't any stopping."
He had a minor head-on collision with a minivan that spun around in front of him. Parts of several cars were pinned underneath others, and witnesses said they helped several young children out of the pile. Bertrand and others limped out of the tunnel as fast as they could, smelling the pungent odors of battery acid and gasoline from the wreckage, and the putrid smell of the mud.
"I was getting out, because I thought it was going to explode," said Joyce Roussell of Marrero. Her car was the first to hit the muddy mess, but she was able to navigate around it with only a minor nick from the car in the adjoining lane.
"Nobody couldn't stop. No way. They were going too fast," she said. "Behind me I just heard them banging, banging, you know?"
For nearly three hours after the wreck, an assembly line of tow trucks backed in and out of the tunnel to ferry off the next batch of wrecked cars. Damage ranged from nicks and fender-benders to major rear-end damage.
All were caked with streaks of thick black mud.
At the time of the accident, the gnarled pile of vehicles stretched nearly halfway across the tunnel.
Workers from the state Department of Transportation and Development were sweeping up the mud, almost a foot thick in some places, once the cars were removed, using sweepers and sand to break up the chunks. Buzzy Wegener, DOTD's assistant district administrator of operations for New Orleans, said the accident caused no major damage to the tunnel walls.
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