More details on pileup released

The North Dakota Highway Patrol has released additional details on the pileup of vehicles on Interstate 94 east of Jamestown Monday.

The patrol said a series of about three crashes at about 8:25 a.m. caused a 10-vehicle pileup at mile marker 265 on I-94, which is about 5 miles east of Jamestown. Six commercial vehicles were in the pileup. Extremely high winds, blowing snow, drifting and very icy road conditions caused eastbound traffic to stop. This led to several rear-end collisions and vehicles driving into the median and ditch, including two that intentionally drove into the south ditch to avoid the massive wreck.

At this point there were 12 vehicles on scene requiring tow service. I-94 was closed for five hours to allow for clearing the road.

The final crash in this incident didn’t occur until I-94 had been closed for two hours when an eastbound vehicle with Illinois plates drove around the “road closed” barricade in Jamestown. It went onto I-94 and drove into the back of a wrecked semi that remained in the passing lane. The vehicle was totaled, but the driver did not need transportation for medical treatment.

Five people were transported by Jamestown Ambulance to Jamestown Regional Medical Center, were treated and released.

The crash remains under investigation.

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