Four reported dead in pileup

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Four people died and eight were injured in a multi-vehicle pileup Saturday morning on Interstate 44, Jasper County medical authorities said.

No immediate report of the number of vehicles involved was available from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, but Springfield radio station KTTS reported that seven tractor-trailers and six other vehicles appeared to be involved.

Jasper County coroner Ron Mosbaugh confirmed the number of fatalities and said two of the injured were in critical condition. The victims' names were not immediately released.

As of midafternoon Saturday, traffic was still shut down in the westbound lanes of the interstate at the accident site, 12 miles east of the Oklahoma line.

Eastbound traffic was limited to one lane.