The crashed backed up traffic on the interstate for hours. The site was cleared at about dawn this morning.
According to state police, the chain-reaction accident happened about 4:38pm in the eastbound lane of the interstate between the Eddyville and Cadiz exits.
A preliminary investigation indicates that a dozen vehicles were involved in the collision. All involved were traveling east on I-24.
The crash happened as traffic had come to a near stop around the 51 mile marker due to construction ahead of the collision scene. State police say Coleman A. Strachman, 42 of Sharpsburg, N.C., was operating a tractor-trailer eastbound and that his inattention was partly to blame for the accident based on eye-witness reports and their investigation. The semi ran into the rear of stopped or slowed traffic, causing a chain of events with multiple injuries.
Jace Ashton Lee Smothers, 19 of Norton, Kan., was pronounced deceased on the scene by the Lyon County Coroner. Smothers was a passenger in a van occupied by multiple occupants. The van is registered to Christ in Youth Incorporated out of Joplin, Mo.
More than 20 people appear to have been in vehicles involved in the crash. At least two are in critical condition. Four people were air lifted to Skyline Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.; one was air lifted to Deaconess Midtown hospital in Evansville. Eight people were transported via ambulances to other area hospitals. The remaining individuals were released. Some out-of-town travelers were put up in nearby hotels.
