Heavy Rain Causes Massive Pile-Up On I-75 in Bartow County

BARTOW COUNTY, GA -- More than a dozen people were transported to area hospitals Sunday evening after heavy downpours caused nearly three dozen vehicles to crash on Interstate 75 in Bartow County.

Crews with Bartow County Emergency Medical Services and other police and fire agencies responded to the crash along I-75 near mile marker 285. Brad Cothran, spokesperson with Bartow EMS, said 27 vehicles collided during a "heavy rain storm."

"It appears weather played a significant part in the accident," said Emerson Police Chief Stan Bradley. "Apparently a vehicle lost control and hit the Etowah River bridge due to a heavy down pour in the area at the time. Traffic behind the initial accident had to brake quickly causing a chain reaction accident involving what we have as twenty seven vehicles."

Multiple EMS units responded to the scene and once everyone was assessed, and 14 people were transported for "different types of injuries." Those injuries, Cothran added, appear to be non-life threatening at his time.

Bradley added a total of 12 were towed from the scene due to damage sustained in the chain-reaction collision.

As of early Monday afternoon, Cartersville Medical Center spokesperson Ginger Tyra said all the victims treated were released late Sunday evening.

"Three patients from additional motor vehicle collisions that happened simultaneously with the interstate pileup were also transported to the emergency department during the same time period," she added. "Two patients with complex fractures were transferred to another facility, and one was admitted to the intensive care unit for additional evaluation and monitoring."

The age of those injured ranged from 11 to 61 years old, and the patients all lived in cities in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

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