Emergency workers transported this morning to area hospitals victims of a single vehicle crash on Interstates 85 and 40 in Guilford County, authorities reported.

The victims were at first transported to Alamance Regional Hospital, but several were airlifted by helicopter to other area hospitals, including Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro for treatment, Trooper G. L. Ingram with the N.C. Highway Patrol reported this afternoon.

The accident occurred just before 11 a.m. in the eastbound lane of I-40, near I-85, Ingram said.

The patrol reported that an older model Isuzu sports utility vehicle veered out of control and overturned several times on the interstate before coming to a rest off the roadway.

Ingram said this afternoon that state troopers are not yet sure how many people were inside of the SUV when it crashed.

"The only thing we do know is there we have adults and children inside the vehicle," Ingram said. The Highway Patrol's preliminary investigation indicates that inattention may have been a factor in the accident, Ingram said.

"But we won't be sure until we speak with with someone who was in the vehicle," Ingram said. Early reports about the crash indicated that the accident may have been caused by the driver of a tractor trailer that fled the scene.

However, Ingram said that although the front end of the car was at one point near the back of a tractor trailer, "no one saw a tractor trailer and the [SUV] collide with each other."

The Highway Patrol is continuing their investigation.