UPDATE: 3 a.m. Wednesday All lanes reopened
UPDATE: 10:40 p.m. According to its Twitter feed, the state DOT said crews were working to open one westbound lane of I-64. Getting the eastbound lanes open could take several more hours. Motorists are advised to avoid the area.
SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. — Traffic was backed up for miles on Interstate 64 Tuesday in Putnam and Kanawha counties following a wreck involving four tractor trailers near the Scott Depot exit that killed the driver of one of the trucks and blocked all lanes of interstate traffic in the area.
The driver lost control of his rig heading west at about 3:45 p.m. The truck went through the median and slammed into another tractor trailer traveling east causing a chain reaction. The trailer of the first truck ended up between two interstate bridges. It was carrying a load of candy bars.
“At this point, we’re not real sure what caused the accident,” said Putnam Emergency Services Director Frank Chapman. “We do know we had a semi cross the median from the eastbound into the westbound lane which struck another semi, which burst into flames. That semi was hauling furniture.”
Two passenger cars were also involved. There were five people transported to area hospitals. Chapman said one of those was in critical condition, and the other four were stable.
Chapman said that it could be several hours before I-64 eastbound lanes were back open. One westbound lane briefly reopened but then was shut down again because one of the rigs was still on fire.
“We’ve had reports of people running out of gas, cars not starting, overheating; things like that,” he said. “We do have the courtesy patrols notified, and we’re hopefully going to have them out here to assist those people who have broken down or have other problems. We’re trying to divert traffic to keep people off the interstate.”
Kanawha County authorities stopped traffic westbound on Interstate 64 at the Institute exit some 11 miles from the crash scene.
Traffic was heavy on U.S. Route 60, state Route 25, state Route 817, U.S. Route 35, state Route 62 and various other rural routes.