A car that ran out of gas and stopped on Waukegan Road was rear-ended, resulting in a five-vehicle crash that sent two people to the hospital and completely shut down the road near Waukegan early Monday.
The Waukegan Fire Department, North Chicago Fire Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded just before 5:50 a.m. Monday to Waukegan Road and Buckley Road near Waukegan for a report of a crash with injuries.
An ambulance crew that arrived reported the crash was in the southbound lanes of Waukegan Road north of Buckley Road and south of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to fire department radio traffic.
Crews reported finding four vehicles, one with heavy damage and three with moderate damage, radio traffic indicated.
Firefighters requested more ambulances as they prepared to transport multiple patients and reported that Waukegan Road was completely shut down.
A chief officer advised incoming Waukegan fire crews to approach from the south because there was no way for them to reach the scene on southbound Waukegan Road.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli said a car was stopped in the southbound lanes of Waukegan Road because it had run out of gas.
The stopped car was rear-ended by another car traveling south, Covelli said.
Three more vehicles then collided in a second crash as other drivers tried to avoid the first one, bringing the number of vehicles involved to five, Covelli said.
Covelli said two people were transported with minor injuries.
Two North Chicago ambulances transported victims to Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.
Covelli said the roadway was shut down because it was blocked due to the median and debris.
One driver said that she was stuck on Waukegan Road for 45 minutes and traffic was backed up so badly “they had people drive backward just to turn people around.”