Interstate 93 south in Thornton, New Hampshire, has reopened after being closed at Exit 29 due to multiple crashes, including one involving a down streetlight across the travel lane. The road reopened at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday, with no reported injuries. Authorities advise staying calm and calling 911 in case of outages or encountering trees and wires down due to the weather.
Seven people were hospitalized after two serious crashes on Route 8 in Beacon Falls, Connecticut. The first crash involved two cars and resulted in five people being injured and taken to nearby hospitals. Route 8 was closed for five hours following this incident. During the closure, a separate five-car accident occurred, resulting in two more people being injured. The highway was reopened at 8:30 p.m.
A stolen vehicle led police on a chase in Maine, causing multiple crashes on Interstate 295. The driver of the stolen Jeep Renegade attempted to flee but was eventually arrested after causing minor injuries to two people. The suspect, Shawn Dame, was charged with several offenses including eluding, driving to endanger, and leaving the scene of a personal injury crash.
A massive pileup involving 72 vehicles occurred during a dust storm south of Springfield, Illinois, resulting in the death of six people, including Shirley Harper, an 88-year-old woman from Wisconsin. Thirty-seven people were injured, with some in critical condition. The Illinois State Patrol has closed a 27-mile stretch of I-55 and is investigating the cause of the accident, which is believed to be excessive winds blowing dirt from farm fields across the highway, leading to zero visibility.
Lucas Rocha, 35, was arrested and charged with DWI and five counts of failure to stop and give information after he struck seven vehicles on the city's West Side. He was driving erratically and speeding in a Toyota Tundra on IH-10 and Probandt Street before crashing into an electric pole on S. General McMullen, causing an outage for the block. No injuries were reported in the string of crashes.