1 dead after 3 serious wrecks involving 20-plus vehicles close Loop 101 in Scottsdale
Three separate serious accidents involving more than 20 cars closed Loop 101 southbound at Hayden Road for several hours in Scottsdale on Monday afternoon and authorities confirmed one person was killed.
The freeway lanes began reopening around 5:20 p.m., and all lanes now are open, the Arizona Department of Transportation said.
The accidents occurred within a short distance of each other:
- An eight-car crash at Cactus Road occurred shortly after 1:30 p.m., when a pickup crossed all lanes and struck a Nissan Maxima, said Bart Graves, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman. A fatality has been confirmed at the scene, Graves said.
- Eleven vehicles were involved in a second collision at Raintree Drive resulting in several serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Graves said. Information on how many people were injured was not immediately available.
- Multiple vehicles also crashed at the Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard off-ramp, Graves said, adding several injuries were reported.
The latter two accidents were chain-reaction crashes that occurred within a few minutes after the initial crash, Graves said.
Additional details were not immediately available. Loop 101 was expected to be closed for about four hours while the investigation continues, DPS said.
Authorities say it will still take a while for the traffic to clear.
Return to azcentral.com for additional details.