A 100-vehicle pileup on Interstate 196 in west Michigan is snarling traffic and leading to hospitalizations, authorities said Monday.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened on the freeway near 64th Avenue in Zeeland Township, about 23 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.
Pedro Mata said he was near the front of the chain-reaction crash. He was driving into Zeeland at about 30 mph when he noticed several trucks in front of him swerving and slowing down. Then, he said, a tractor-trailer jackknifed right in front of him.
“At that point, I drove to the left of the median and went into the ditch,” Mata said.
Mata, 52, of Hudsonville stayed in his vehicle for several minutes before checking on other drivers.
“I could still hear it going on behind me,” he said. “I peeked behind me and could still see (other vehicles) hitting each other.”
Mata said it took first responders upward of 45 minutes to get to the scene. Some used snowmobiles to access the stranded motorists.
He was transported to Zeeland High School with other uninjured drivers.
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office said nine to 12 people were injured in the crash and there were no fatalities. All of the injured were transported to area hospitals, the Sheriff’s Office said. Michigan State Police said the crash involved 100 vehicles and was first reported at about 10:19 a.m.
Dozens of vehicles crash in snowy pileup in west Michigan
The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office reports a severe pileup crash involving dozens of vehicles happened on the I-196 near 64th Avenue in Zeeland Township, about 23 miles southwest of Grand Rapids.
Clair Beach-Paver said she was on the highway, driving from Hudsonville to Holland, several hours before the crash and conditions were already hazardous.
“We went about 20 (mph) the whole way and it was white out most the way,” Beach-Paver said via text message. “I counted at least 11 cars in the ditch on my drive.”
The state police also said an estimated 30-40 semi-trucks are involved.
“I-196 is closed in both directions between Hudsonville and Zeeland,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement on its Facebook page posted at about noon.
Officials are urging the public to avoid driving today, especially in that area, due to hazardous conditions.
“Buses from Hudsonville Public Schools and MAX Transit are being used to transport stranded motorists from the scene to Hudsonville High School,” they said. “Once brought to the school, they will be able to summon assistance or schedule rides to pick them up from the high school cafeteria.”
Sheriff’s deputies said motorists currently stranded at the site of the crash should remain inside their vehicles until they can board a bus for transportation to Hudsonville High School.
State Sen. Roger Victory, R-Hudsonville, also traveled on I-196 before the massive pileup crash started. He said the area where the incident took place is “one of the more problematic” such stretches in his district.
“There’s some open farm fields there and a kind of peak in the road,” he said. “You can be going through some pretty decent conditions, and then you hit a squall, and it’s trouble.”
