No less than 50 vehicles were involved in a massive pileup on Monday morning in Des Moines, Iowa during a fierce snowstorm.
KCCI 8 reports that the pile-up occurred by mile marker 139 on westbound I-80 near Altoona. A series of videos captured some of the pileup while others showed the shocking aftermath. Numerous trucks were involved and there were dozens of passenger vehicles that were also unable to break in the slippery and icy conditions.
“It is a shock to the system,” ISP Sgt. Alex Dinkla said of the crash. “We don’t like to see that as officers, and any time those crashes happen it’s a shock to everybody’s system.”
Snow Danger: Monstrous Wisconsin Pileup With 131 Cars Kills 1, Leaves 71 Injured
No one was killed in the crash although at least one person was seriously injured, Dinkla revealed. As in previous pile-ups of this sort, the sergeant recommended that if you’re involved in such a crash, it’s best to say in your vehicle.
“That’s going to be your safe spot,” he said. “We’ve seen many vehicles go through big accident scenes like this full speed. Stay in that car. Don’t get out of that car because you’re going to be most safe in your car.”
In addition, Dinkla said that anyone driving in such severe conditions as these should “drive at an appropriate winter driving speed and always be prepared to stop.”
The highway was blocked for a number of hours due to the pileup as police collected information from all of the vehicles involved.