At approximately 8:00am, Wednesday morning October 19th, Oregon State Police Troopers responded to a multi-vehicle crash on southbound Interstate 5 blocking and closing all southbound lanes of I-5 near the Halsey-Brownsville exit.
Preliminary estimates of involved vehicles from the Oregon State Police are that 15 to 20 Commercial Motor Vehicles and 45 passenger vehicles were initially involved. Traffic was detoured to 99E by the Oregon Department of Transportation and latest reports are that I-5 had remained closed south of Albany as late as 6:30pm.
The Oregon Department of Transportation temporarily dropped the cable barrier to detour vehicles caught in the gridlock on Interstate 5 and School buses from Eugene were used to assist in relocating 30-40 stranded motorists.
Approximately 6 of the Commercial Motor Vehicles were reported to have leaked fluids onto the roadway which was addressed by HAZMAT and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Preliminary reports described multiple injuries and one fatality with multiple ambulance agencies on scene through out the day, however, REACH and Life Flight resources were unavailable due to heavy fog and low visibilities.
The Oregon State Police reported that three people were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis and many more transported to Riverbend Hospital in Springfield.
