Semi-trailer truck collides with cars stuck in a traffic jam, killing four people and injuring 17 others

Four people are dead after a tractor-trailer crashed into more than a dozen vehicles in a late-night incident, according to state police.

A section of Interstate 96 in southeastern Michigan was closed late Saturday while utility workers maintained power lines in the area. At the time, the truck was traveling in the westbound lane of I-96 and apparently did not expect traffic to be stopped near the construction site.

The semi-trailer truck collided with the other vehicles.

“It appears that the driver of the semi-truck did not see the backup and was unable to stop his vehicle in time,” Michigan State Police said in an X statement.

Police said more than a dozen vehicles were involved in the crash and that some – including the tractor-trailer – caught fire after the impact.

According to police, 17 people were hospitalized as a result of the incident and four died. The driver of the semi-truck survived and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

MSP said the victims were a 29-year-old man from Carson City who was driving a truck and a family of three from Lansing who was driving a Chevy Trax. The Lansing family members were a 20-year-old woman, a 43-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man. The police did not provide any information about how the three were related to each other.

The clean-up work at the construction site lasted into Sunday.

DTE Energy spokesperson Colleen Rosso stated: The Detroit News why the energy crews were on I-96 before the incident.

“If we're going to do something like this on the expressway, we're going to do it when the expressway is at its lowest volume because it needs to be closed for both the safety of travelers and the safety of… That's why we're working with the Michigan State Police on it and trying to figure out when it causes the least amount of inconvenience,” she said.

Police said I-96 West at M-52 will remain closed until their investigation is complete and the northbound and southbound lanes on M-52 will be closed at the I-96 overpass, until the Michigan Department of Transportation inspects the intersection.