WEBBERVILLE, Mich. — Michigan State Police (MSP) are sharing updates following the deadly crash on I-96 over the weekend.
"It appears that, just from watching, there was surveillance video from a gas station nearby that we see, that it appears the truck never slowed down and just plowed into the group of vehicles," said Lieutenant Renee Gonzalez with MSP.
On Saturday, the fiery crash on I-96 near Lansing injured 17 people and killed four others. Lieutenant Renee Gonzalez with MSP said a total of 15 cars were involved including a semi-truck that caused the crash and caught on fire.
"It appears that the truck did not see the slowdown in traffic, or was preoccupied and could not stop in time. He ran into the back of a group of vehicles. It exploded, started fire with a bunch of other vehicles, causing a multiple-vehicle crash," said Lieutenant Gonzalez.
The crash happened just before 11:45 p.m. Saturday night. Of the four people who were killed, three were from the same family—and the fourth person has been identified as 29-year-old Robert "Bobby" Ross from Carson City. His family posted his obituary on social media saying he was on his way home from deer hunting in Ohio when he was killed. Lieutenant Gonzalez said the road had been previously blocked while a utility crew was stringing new electrical lines, but the interstate had just reopened when the crash happened.
"What they were doing were working with DTE Energy out of Detroit to shut down a portion of the freeway in the I-96 near M-52 and they had shut down the road so DTE could string power lines across the roadway. At the time, the troopers had cleared the roadway and traffic was flowing again. However, due to the backup, it was moving slowly," said Lieutenant Gonzalez.
After the roads were cleaned off Saturday night, the bridge was reopened on Sunday. Members of the Northview High School band and their families were also involved in the crash. No one from the Northview group was seriously hurt, but the band's trailer and some instruments were damaged.
In a statement from the district, the superintendent said:
“We were deeply saddened to learn of the accident that occurred this weekend as our students, families and volunteers were returning from the state band competition in Detroit. While we are grateful that nobody from the school district was seriously injured - two students were hospitalized and released in the morning - our hearts go out to those families and friends who were impacted by the accident. Our school counselors are available to provide support to students and families who may be struggling with the accident.”
An investigation of the crash is still underway. Lieutenant Gonzalez encourages drivers to stay alert on the roads.
"Michigan law states that you will be in control of your vehicle at all times when you're operating. And in this case, that's what caused this crash, was that semi-truck plowing into this group of vehicles. So we just want people that they need to be aware that you got to stay off that phone if you're tired, pull off the road," said Lieutenant Gonzalez.
