Las Vegas Sun

November 15, 2009

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21-vehicle pileup shuts eastbound I-80 in Sierra

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

"Basically, we had a pretty severe snowstorm hit that area," said Officer Kirk Bromell with the California Highway Patrol. "You could almost bet that is was weather related."

The accident just east of Truckee occurred around 8:30 a.m. Fourteen cars, six tractor-trailer rigs and one van were involved, Bromell said.

Four people were taken to Tahoe-Forest Hospital in Truckee for moderate injuries, Bromell said.

"If you could have seen it, we were definitely lucky" there were no serious injuries, he said.

Two of the large trucks tipped over and spilled some of their contents on the road.

One truck spilled 300-500 gallons of diesel fuel, but the fuel was quickly contained and posed no threat to the nearby Truckee River, the CHP said.

One of the eastbound lanes was reopened shortly after 5 p.m., but the other remained closed into the night.

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