From The Archives: 1990 I-75 Pileup
The chain collision crash along the Hiwassee river was even more deadly than the dust storm crash this week in Illinois
CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – This week, we saw a deadly interstate pileup in Illinois caused by a dust storm.
It involved more than 70 vehicles.
Well, 33 years ago, we saw an even worse chain collision crash right in our own backyard.
It involved 99 vehicles slamming into each other in the fog on I-75 near the Hiwassee River.
A dozen people were killed and dozens more injured.
Drivers described a nightmare scene in the fog.
Vehicles on fire, victims trapped in crashes and more trucks and cars crashing through the fog bank.
One victim described her walk out of the crash zone as “I saw more bodies than I cared to see.”
The fog warning system along the Calhoun/Charleston stretch of the interstate dates back to this wreck.
Officials put it up to warn drivers that deadly fog could lay ahead along the Hiwassee River.
There have been larger chain collision crashes in U.S. history, but none more deadly.
