ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. — One person was killed and multiple others were injured in a 10-vehicle pileup on Interstate 81 in Rockbridge County, Virginia Thursday evening during heavy rain and traffic.
Abdiqadir Ahmed Nur, 36, of Shakopee, Minnesota, died when he drove into the back of several tractor trailers that were stopped due to heavy traffic. The crashes were reported at about 5:08 p.m. on the northbound side of Interstate 81 at the 181-mile marker.
The massive pileup involved six tractor trailers, three passenger vehicles and one medical transport van with no patient on board.
“It appears the crash occurred in heavy rain as traffic was slowing due to two-vehicle crash just ahead,” a Virginia State Police spokesperson said. “Traffic was slowing as vehicles started rear-ending one another, which blocked the roadway, and this began the chain reaction of vehicles piling up.”
The driver of the medical transport van suffered serious injuries and required helicopter transport. However, the weather was so bad it prevented the helicopter from returning to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, forcing ground transportation to Rockbridge Community Hospital instead.
The crash investigation and cleanup of resulting fuel spills took approximately eight hours. The interstate fully reopened to traffic at about 1 a.m. Friday.