Three killed in I-24 crash near Metropolis

METROPOLIS, Ill. -- A vehicle crossed the median on a busy stretch of Interstate 24 near the Illinois-Kentucky border Friday, killing three people and critically injuring two others, Illinois State Police said.

The accident snarled Easter weekend traffic for hours, police said.

A white Mercedes sedan traveling eastbound crossed the median at about 10:30 a.m. and struck a maroon, four-door Chevrolet in the westbound lanes, Illinois State Police trooper Bridget Rice said.

The two female occupants of the Mercedes and a male in the Chevrolet were killed, Rice said. Two other people in Chevrolet were airlifted from the scene and taken to local hospitals in critical condition, she added.

Massac County Coroner Steven Farmer said family members identified the driver of the Mercedes as Jeannette Devine, 67, of Johnston City, Ill. Karen Dodd, 64, of Marion, Ill., was Devine's cousin and passenger, he said.

Devine was pronounced dead at a hospital, while Dodd died at the scene, Farmer said.

Farmer said the third victim was driving the Chevrolet but could provide no information because he died at a hospital outside Massac County.

The Chevrolet was registered to a rental car company in Georgia, Rice said.

All lanes of traffic were closed for about three hours as authorities conducted an investigation and cleaned up the wreckage, backing up traffic for miles in both states.

As authorities worked to reroute traffic, a semitrailer and a sheriff's deputy squad car collided, said Keith Todd, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Transportation.

A McCracken County deputy sheriff responding to the scene lost control of the squad car, struck a bridge railing, swerved across the expressway and collided with the rear tires of a tractor-trailer, according to Kentucky State Police.

The deputy sheriff was taken to an area hospital with minor back injuries.

Authorities had to establish two different detours after the accidents.

Semitrailers were unable to use the detour along U.S. Route 45 because the Brookport Bridge couldn't handle the weight, Todd said.

That part of the interstate serves approximately 36,000 vehicles a day.

"It's Easter weekend and we got a lot of spring break traffic, so it's pretty nutty out there," Todd said.