Five people were injured early Wednesday afternoon in a three-vehicle wreck on the inner loop of Interstate 485 in southeast Charlotte, authorities say.
The wreck, which occurred about 12:30 p.m. when a car slammed into the rear of a tractor-trailer carrying a mobile home, shut down the inner loop of I-485 at Providence Road.
At one point, traffic was snarled more than 5 miles on the inner loop, back to the Idlewild Road area. But authorities were able to reopen the travel lanes shortly before 1:45 p.m. One lane on the outer loop also was closed for nearly an hour, backing up traffic on that side too.
According to police, it appears as if a Toyota Prius ran into the back of the tractor-trailer, which had been parked on the right side of I-485, a short distance past the exit ramp to Providence Road. A pickup truck then hit the rear of the Prius, and the car was lodged partially under the tractor-trailer.
Charlotte fire Capt. Rob Brisley said the three occupants of the car were trapped in the wreck. He said it took crews almost 40 minutes to free the trapped motorists.
Two people in the pickup truck also were injured.
Kristin Young of Medic says five people were taken to Carolinas Medical Center. She said three of those hurt had potentially life-threatening injuries, and the other two had non-life-threatening injuries. A medical emergency helicopter was called to the scene but not needed, Brisley said.
“Remarkably, everyone survived,” Brisley said.
The Observer’s Davie Hinshaw contributed.
