Authorities have reopened a portion of Interstate 65 in Northwest Indiana after a five-vehicle crash seriously injured one person on Monday afternoon.
The southbound lanes of I-65 were shut down at the 254 mile marker, south of the 61st Avenue exit, at around 5 p.m. Traffic had resumed as normal by 8:10 p.m. Video captured by NBC 5 showed at least three vehicles appeared to have been involved, with one loaded onto a tow truck.
According to authorities, four vehicles were in the right lane on a hillcrest, slowed in heavy traffic, when a fifth vehicle, a Dodge Caravan rear-ended one of the cars, causing a chain-reaction crash. Joseph Llano, 39, of Merrillville, the driver of the Caravan, was distracted an didn’t see that traffic had slowed significantly ahead of him, police said.
The driver of a Chevy Malibu, a 40-year-old woman from Michigan City, was unable to exit her vehicle. She was extricated by firefighters and taken by helicopter to the University of Chicago Medical Center with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Another individual, who was driving a Ford Fusion, was taken to an area hospital with a compliant of pain. Three children riding in the Grand Caravan were also transported to a local hospital for complaints of pain.
Neither alcohol or drugs was suspected in the crash.