Vehicle pileups kill 1 in Indiana; 3 in Michigan

A chain-reaction crash involving 40 vehicles in Indiana injured 10 people Thursday who were sent to area hospitals, police said.

One person died from injuries sustained in the wreck, said Indiana State Police Capt. Dave Bursten said Friday.

No fatalities were reported in the pileup of semis and cars that closed a seven-mile section of Interstate 70 west of Indianapolis, said state police Cpl. Tim James.

A hazardous materials team was cleaning up fuel and automobile lubricants from the roadway, Myers said.

Wintry white-out conditions are one possible cause for the wreck, James said.

A semi tractor and trailer hauling three elephants slid off the roadway at the crash scene, but the animals were not injured, authorities said. The elephants were never loose.

In Michigan, three people were killed and up to 20 injured in another chain-reaction accident Thursday, state police said.

Two children and one adult died, police said.

The accident happened over the Rouge River Bridge in Detroit on Interstate 75, said Robert Morosi of the Michigan Department of Transportation. At least 30 cars were involved in the pileup, he said.

Snow was falling at the time of the crash, Morosi said, describing conditions as a "typical Michigan winter morning."

The jaws of life were used to pull people out of three vehicles, Shaw said.