SARASOTA ? UPDATE: Sarasota County Fire Department spokeswoman Susan Pearson says a minimum of 50 cars were involved in the accident on Interstate 75 at the University Parkway overpass.
Twenty-nine people were taken to area hospitals, including two Bayflights. About 30 more people were checked on the scene for minor injuries.
At about 5 p.m., a Sarasota County Area Transit bus had arrived to get uninjured people out of the area.
Interstate 75 southbound is closed southbound near Exit 213.
The Sarasota County Sheriff?s Office said 10 to 12 people are being treated for injuries.
Officials cautioned to avoid the area as all the southbound lanes of the Interstate near exit 213 have been shut down and are expected to remain that way for hours.
The northbound lanes are moving, but slowly. Officers are diverting traffic to State Road 70.
Witnesses said a heavy downpour of rain that may have contributed to the pileup, which started shortly after 3 p.m.
What we are hearing at the scene:
Julio Olmedo, 57, was driving a white van with 2 co-workers from Standard Tile, on their way to get their paychecks. ?It was confusing, a lot of cars, a lot of rain,? he said.
Olmeda said he could hear the accident, in front and behind him, and then he was in it.
His van was rear-ended by a red truck.
?I think I?m going to die,? Olmedo said. ?That?s what I?m thinking.?
Sean McCue was driving home to Sarasota after work about 3:15 p.m. when the chain reaction occurred near the county line.
?All this is people not being able to stop,? he said gesturing behind him to the wreckage on the overpass.
A helicopter soared overhead and police sirens roared as McCue waited by his dented-up Hyundai SUV.
At the time of the crash, drivers were going slow ? about 55 or 60 mph ? because of the moderate rain, said David Wagle, 57.
He was in the middle lane when he saw a semi truck driver ahead in the left lane lose control, the trailer jackknifing to the right.
The sound that followed was a steady bam, bam, bam.
?For a minute, nonstop, you could hear crash after crash,? said Wagle, who was driving home from his job at the Tampa airport.
Wagle was lucky.
His white Ford truck went in the left ditch, narrowly missing a row of trees.
?My truck doesn?t have a scratch,? he said as around him stranded drivers talked on their phones and workers went from vehicle to vehicle, making sure everyone was OK.
?Every car literally around is smashed.?
For those three seconds, Bob Sipkema knew he was doomed.
?I hollered to (wife) Mary, ?We?re going to crash,?? he said.
There was no time to think or react, and nowhere to go but into the two cars in front of him.
His truck?s windshield was smashed, looking like a spider web. The air bag went off, hurting Mary Sipkema?s ribs that she had broken last year. And the truck filled with smoke.
?I was terrified it was going to explode anytime,? she said.
But their worst fears were not realized, and two hours later, their Chevy Silverado, towing a small John Deere tractor, was still stuck on the interstate.
That?s when the emotions hit.
He choked up, feeling like he hadn?t done enough to protect his wife.
?I?m still shook up about what happened,? he said as the North Port couple stood together. ?We?re grateful to be alive.?
A call from their pastor at First Baptist Port Charlotte helped with their stress, too. They were already on the church prayer list.
EARLIER: Southbound lanes of Interstate 75 are blocked near the University Parkway intersection as the Florida Highway Patrol responds to a multiple vehicle crash.
There are more than 10 people injured in the multi-vehicle crash, including one patient who is being airlifted to Blake Medical Center and two other trauma patients, according to Manatee County Emergency Services.
The crash is on the University Parkway overpass, and involves at least eight cars. FHP troopers are just getting on the scene.
Though the crash itself is on the overpass, the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 remain closed.
More details will come. The southbound lanes were shut down about 3:20 p.m.
DEVELOPING: Southbound lanes of Interstate 75 are blocked near the University Parkway intersection as the Florida Highway Patrol responds to a multiple vehicle crash.
There are more than 10 people injured in the multi-vehicle crash, including one patient who is being airlifted to Blake Medical Center and two other trauma patients, according to Manatee County Emergency Services.
The crash is on the University Parkway overpass, and involves at least eight cars. FHP troopers are just getting on the scene.
Though the crash itself is on the overpass, the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 remain closed.
Source The Herald Tribune
