The Roanoke Times
SALEM, Va. — Two people were dead and four others were taken to the hospital Monday night after a wreck on Interstate 81 in Salem involving two tractor-trailers and a car, state police said.
Shortly before 8 p.m., a northbound tractor-trailer veered off the road, through the median and into the southbound lanes, according to Sgt. Rob Carpentieri of the Virginia State Police.
The other tractor-trailer and the car were traveling in the southbound lanes. The driver of one of the trucks and the driver of the car were killed, Carpentieri said.
The driver of the other truck as well as a passenger in one of the trucks and an adult and a child from the car were taken to the hospital, he said.
First Sgt. Paul Watts of the Virginia State Police said that one of the trucks was carrying sawdust, which spilled on the roadway.
That will have to be cleaned up before the accident scene can be reconstructed, Watts said.
No information was available late Monday night about the identities of the people involved or their conditions.
The Virginia Department of Transportation said on its website that traffic was backed up for four miles but that detours had been put in place.
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