A "super fog" in Louisiana has caused a multi-car pileup on Interstate 55 near New Orleans, Louisiana, after severely lowering visibility, according to police, ABC News reported.
The crash, involving at least 158 vehicles, occurred on Monday morning due to heavy fog conditions, according to Louisiana State Police. A long stretch of Interstate 55, a 24-mile-long highway over Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, is expected to be closed "for the foreseeable future," police said.
Interstate 10 and Interstate 310 were also closed as a result of the crash, police said. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards confirmed the accident in a statement Monday. Seven fatalities have been confirmed and over 25 individuals were transported to area hospitals with varying degrees of injuries from critical to minor, according to Louisiana State Police.
Additional fatalities could be located once the crash scene is completed cleared, police said.
For hours after the crash, emergency crews worked to clear debris from both northbound and southbound lanes, according to state police. A portion of the crash scene on I-55 caught on fire shortly after the initial incident, authorities said.
The super fog was caused by smoke from marsh fires burning in the region combined with dense fog developing in the area early Monday morning bringing extremely low visibility. In some spots, visibility was near zero, creating dangerous driving conditions.
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