At least 10 dead in wrecks on Fla. Interstate

Aerial view of Interstate 75 in Gainesville, Fla., where at least 9 people have died as a result of multiple crashes Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 involving 4 commercial vehicles and at least 10 passenger vehicles. / AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Rob C. Witzel

Last Updated 6:15 p.m. ET

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 ten people were killed, and another 21 were treated at local hospitals, reports CBS affiliate GTN-TV in Gainesville.

Visibility was so poor that when rescuers first arrived, they could only listen for screams and moans to locate victims, police said.

Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the pileup south of Gainsville on Interstate 75, which had been closed for a time because of the mixture of fog and heavy smoke from a brush fire. At least five cars and six tractor-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.

Reporters who were allowed to view the site saw one tractor-trailer that was burned down to its skeleton, charred pages of books and magazines in its cargo area. Bodies were still visible inside a burned-out Grand Prix. The rubber on the tires of every vehicle had burned away, leaving only steel belts.

State police estimated that wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile in both directions.

Donna Henry was driving south at 3:45 a.m. when she encountered the dense smoke.

"We just hit it, and you couldn't see anything," Henry told The Gainesville Sun. She was driving with friends back home to Palm Bay.

Her car struck a guardrail and ended up sideways in the outside lane. She pulled off the highway and called 911 while listening to the sound of the other crashes on both sides of the busy road.

"You heard like 15 times somebody hit, from this side and that, north and south. It was bad."

All six lanes of the interstate — which runs virtually the entire length of Florida — remained closed at midday as investigators surveyed the site and firefighters sprayed foam on the wreckage to put out the last of the fires.

At least 18 people were hurt.

At some point before the pileup, police briefly closed the highway because of the fog and smoke, which came from a fire in the Paynes Prairie area south of Gainesville. The road was reopened when visibility improved.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Patrick Riordan said he was not sure how much time passed between the reopening of the highway and the first crash.

Traffic was being diverted onto U.S. 301 and State Road 27, Riordan said.

Four years ago, heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash.

In January 2008, four people were killed and 38 injured in a series of similar crashes on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa, about 125 miles south of Sunday's crash. More than 70 vehicles were involved in those crashes, including one pileup that involved 40 vehicles.

[endrepubs]

The "pack mentality" will kill you on the road. I see it every day. Herds of drivers going very fast neck and neck with no braking distance between them. One hiccup and its over. Most of these drivers just assume nothing will go wrong and they don't prepare for the unexpected. Trucks used to have 45 mph limits and cars 55. I think maybe we should have 55 for trucks and 65 for cars. A lot of lives would be saved......not to mention the gas savings.

[TriangleMan]

That's what happens when you a) speed, b) follow too closely, c) don't pay attention to your driving, or d) all of the above. The annoying part is, I'm sure none of the survivors, at least the ones who will be able to drive again, will learn their lesson either. They'll be right back to driving senselessly as soon as they're out of the hospital.

[TriangleMan]

Also, when I'm stopped at red lights, sometimes I like to count the number of people driving past me who are on their phones, texting, or looking down at food in their lap or at kids in their backseat while driving, and the average is about 35% of them. Most are playing with cell phones. I'm willing to bet at LEAST that many of the dead people were playing with their phones too.

[abby_del_abbey]

how sad. poor families...

[nearl451]

Actually, the most dangerous HWY's are I-95and I-4 near Orldando.

Why in the world there is no debottleneck witha highspeed rail between Orlando and Tampa is beyond me.

[BC Kelly]

.

Not to be callous - but this is not unique to Highway Driving

Just watch some folks with Shopping Carts in WalMart

Not looking ahead, not paying attention, moving Deaf/Dumb/Blind

They are not Texting, not on Cell Phone

Just not paying attention to the World around them

And apparently how many live their life

.

Remember Yosemite Sam Mudflaps

"Back Off"

.

[gerryrigger]

I wonder if the "brush fire" was actually the result of a controlled burn that wasn't extinguished properly.

[sepa2]

dumb'sses. People in the north with all this ice and snow doing much better.

[McDuderson]

Agreed, up here in the north we know to slow the hell down when visibility drops. What a horrifying tragedy, slow down people!!

[john-27]

I wouldn't doubt that some of these deaths were caused by people being tailgated. I am presuming that this was the case because people are always doing it and they drive like they don't care or think about anything except them getting to where they are going. Imagine driving into this with someone about 2 car-lengths behind you. If you stop quick, you will be crushed by them most likely. You can't just keep going fast if you can't see(well, it's not smart). When are people going to start saving at least some lives by enforcing laws against tailgating? Oh, if the policemen and lawmakers are tailgating they won't want to stop it. They don't really care if other people die. I guess I'm one of the few that wouldn't just think about myself. People need to put themselves in the shoes of the families that lost loved ones in these accidents. If some people can't think ahead then we need to enforce laws that make them think about other people.

[cattiej]

I blame the Florida State Police for not stopping the traffic on I-75 until it cleared...but no, people must be allowed to travel if they want to...even if they cant see were they are going. The speed limit for trucks here in Illinois has been increased to 75 mile per hour by or esteemed Governor...more accidents will not happen. I am sick and tired of seeing semi truck drivers turn corners in our town with a cellphone in one hand and the other had on the wheel...Hang up the phone and drve SAFELY

[theirdaughter]

Cars hitting cars is one thing but cars hitting large heavy trucks or vice versa is quite another. When will people come to their senses and demand that freight be shipped via rail where it belongs!

[Citzen_of_Socialist_USA]

I am a professional truck driver with over twenty years driving and 2.5 million safe miles. Also every product from tooth pastes to space shuttles have been moved by trucks. All the fatal accidents I have witnessed all over the USA and Canada were cause by the careless driving of a driver in a car or light vehicles and not obeying traffic laws. You people are so quick to condemn professional truck drivers. I am not saying some truck drivers need their license takin away. But thats why we have the DOT and Hiway and State troopers across the country. You eat your cereal and fruit this morning? Thank the trucker that hauled it to the distribution center, then your local market.

[LeslieDF]

"Four years ago, heavy fog and smoke were blamed for another serious crash."

Gee. Never knew how heavy fog or smoke could be - enough to crush vehicles!

There is a brake and steering wheel in every vehicle on the road. Most people driving cars do not know how or when to use either.

You want the next train derailment with ammonia or flammable cargo somewhere in your vicinity? "Where it belongs..."