A total of 18 vehicles wrecked on Interstate 83 in northern York County, Pennsylvania, on Thursday night, closing the highway for several hours. All of the crashes reportedly occurred in the northbound lanes near the same exit in Fairview Township at around 6:30 p.m.
Initial reports initially listed only 12 cars involved in the wrecks, but that number was later increased to 18 by the Pennsylvania State Police. For reasons still not clear, the 18 vehicles were involved in multiple crashes.
The Fairview Township Fire Department reported that upon arriving on the scene, “found a large debris field with multiple vehicles and patients blocking all travel lanes of Interstate 83.” The fire department reported receiving four separate calls about crashes on I-83.
It is currently unclear why so many vehicles were involved in multiple wrecks
According to WGAL News, the largest of the crashes involved nine vehicles, including two commercial tractor-trailers. The resulting carnage led to a heavy traffic backlog as it blocked all travel lanes. This caused emergency responders to divert highway traffic off Exit 36. The rest of the wrecks were reportedly considered secondary crashes by police…