One dead, 4 injured in a set of overnight crashes on I-70

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. - A 32-year-old Manchester man is dead and at least 5 people were left injured after a series of crashes that occurred overnight Friday morning on Interstate 70.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP), the accidents occurred a little after 12:05 a.m. on westbound I-70, west of Earth City Expressway, involving at least 6 vehicles. A number of cars could be seen spattered across the interstate, sustaining serious damage.

According to the MSHP crash report, the set of accidents began after the driver of a Ford Escape became inattentive and struck the rear end of a Hyundai Elantra, causing the vehicle to run off the left side of the road and strike a concrete median.

After striking the median, the Hyundai Elantra remained in the roadway and a pileup began to build as the driver's side of the Elantra was struck by a Lincoln Corsair and a Lexus ES330. The Elantra's rear end was later struck by a Ford Fusion.

As the pileup continued to buildup on the roadway, the 32-year-old driver of the Hyundai Elantra got out of his vehicle at some point and was later struck by a Volkswagen Tiguan, which swerved on the roadway in an attempt to avoid the vehicles from the buildup. The 32-year-old man was transported to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead.

There were a number of other injuries from the overnight crash. The 66-year-old driver in the Lexus ES330, the 27-year-old driver and a 53-year-old passenger in the Ford Fusion all faced minor injuries. The passenger in the Hyundai Elantra, a 39-year-old woman, suffered moderate injuries. All of the drivers and passengers injured in the accident were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The drivers of the Ford Escape, Lincoln Corsair, or Volkswagen Tiguan did not suffer from any injuries, according to the crash report. Everyone involved in the set of crashes was wearing seatbelts at the time of the accidents.

Following the crash, traffic was diverted onto Missouri Route 141 for four hours while crews cleared the scene.

MSHP shared information regarding what the busy week of holiday travel has looked like for them. MSHP officials say there were fewer crashes this Christmas compared to last year in Missouri.

Between 6 p.m. Christmas Eve night through 11:59 p.m. on Christmas night, the troop handled a total of 65 crashes across the state, including three deaths and 38 injuries. The three deaths were the result of a crash Tuesday night in St. Francis County that left a 28-year-old mother and her two young kids dead. Troopers also issued a total of 17 DWI's statewide.