A six-vehicle pileup has left at least eight people dead after a semi-trailer slammed into a van which then collided with other cars and burst into flames on I-85 in Georgia.
The semi-trailer was following the Dodge van too closely when the crash occurred on Monday in Jackson County, about 62 miles northeast of Atlanta, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Safety told AP.
All seven passengers in the van were pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that an eighth individual in the pileup also died.
The identities of the victims have not been released.
Footage taken by a witness on the road shows the devastation of the pileup, with several totaled vehicles visible across the width of the highway.
A black truck can be seen with its windshield smashed and the entire right side of the vehicle crushed.
The cab of the semi-trailer can also be seen ablaze on the side of the road. In the highway’s leftmost lane, a white van with its back doors completely caved in is visible.
Dustin Williams, who shared the video on Facebook, wrote: ‘We passed it right after it happened [and] thankfully did not get stuck in the ensuing traffic.’
A video taken by a witness on the road shows the devastation of the pileup, which killed eight people and caused the cabin of a semi-trailer to burn
Emergency response teams arrived at the site of the crash to get the situation under control
One of the vehicles involved in the pileup was a van that belonged to Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters and was transporting 37 cats to a shelter in Vermont
Aerial footage shows emergency response teams at the site of the crash and an enormous line of traffic forming on the road behind.
When the semi-trailer crashed into the van, it caused a chain reaction that caused four other vehicles to be hit, including one which belonged to Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters, a no-kill animal shelter in Georgia.
The Furkids van was transporting 37 cats to a shelter in Vermont, according to a Facebook post made by the sanctuary. The driver, as well as several cats, sustained injuries in the collision.
Many cages were damaged during the crash and several of the cats escaped.
Of the 37 cats, 32 have been accounted for and the sanctuary is searching for the other five.
In a statement, the sanctuary said: ‘We are conducting triage on all of the cats involved to determine the extent of their injuries and needed medical care. We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of both our staff and the animals in our care.’
In 2024, 39,345 people died in traffic crashes according to early estimates from the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Despite the scale of the number it represents a 3.8 percent decrease in roadway fatalities compared with 2023, when there were 40,901. It also represents an even sharper decline from the 15-year high of 43,230 traffic deaths in 2021.
In 2023, which is the latest year with concrete data on roadway deaths, Georgia alone had 1,615 traffic fatalities.
