2 dead, at least 10 injured after highway collapses in Mississippi

Hurricane Ida caused a highway to collapse in Mississippi. The incident left two people dead and at least 10 were injured when their vehicles nosedived into a deep hole where a highway collapsed. As per an official, torrential rain may have caused the collapse. The drivers may not have been able to see that the roadway had collapsed Monday night following the hurricane.

“Some of these cars are stacked on top of each other,” Mississippi Highway Patrol Cp. Cal Robertson said.

He further added that as many as seven vehicles were involved. A motorcycle, too, was involved in the crash. The official said that a crane was brought in to lift the cars out of the hole.

State troopers, emergency workers and rescue teams responded to Highway 26 west of Lucedale, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Biloxi, to find both the east and westbound lanes collapsed, Associated Press quoted WDSU-TV as saying.

Highway Patrol captain Robertson said the hole is around 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 meters) long and 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) deep.

The identities of those who were involved in the accident are yet to be released. According to the National Weather Service, during the landfall of Hurrican Ida, more than 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain fell in the area.

Between 3,100 and 5,700 vehicles drive along the stretch of two-lane highway on an average day, according to Mississippi Department of Transportation data.

Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday as a Category 4 storm. This was one of the most powerful ever to hit the US mainland. It knocked out power to much of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, blowing roofs off buildings and reversing the flow of the Mississippi River.

Ida came ashore 16 years after Katrina and a year after Hurricane Laura wrecked southwest Louisiana, leaving Lake Charles and other communities without power for weeks