Update: 2 dead, I-10 traffic cleared after 9 hours in MS-LA state line crash
Westbound lanes are open again on I-10 in Hancock County near the Louisiana line after two people died in an accident early Wednesday morning, officials report.
Mississippi Department of Transportation announced at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday the accident was cleared.
The crash happened around 3 a.m. near exit 2, when a truck loaded with cars went into the median and overturned. Mississippi Highway Patrol confirmed two people died in the accident. They were from outside the area and were in the truck that crashed, said Trooper Cal Robertson with Mississippi Highway Patrol.
Hancock County Coroner Jeff Hair identified them as Elog Tarasevich, 29, the driver, and Yakov Tarasevich, 24, the passenger, according to WXXV. Both were from South Carolina.
The cleanup is especially difficult because the cars that were being transported on the truck must be removed first, Robertson said, before the tractor-trailer can be towed.
He said crews are working to get everything cleaned up and the road reopened before a storm system moves in. The strongest storms are expected between 6 p.m. and midnight, according to the National Weather Service in New Orleans.
“We’re having a lot of secondary rear-end collisions,” he said, which happens when an interstate is closed.
Unlike the accident in 2022, when a tractor-trailer hauling cars crashed into the Pearl River bridge and caused months of backups, this crash didn’t cause infrastructure damage, Robertson said.
The St. Tammany Parish Fire District assisted West Hancock Fire Rescue when responding to the accident and shared a photo that showed at least two mangled vehicles covered by a fallen tree.
The 11:20 a.m. update says traffic backups are expected four more hours.
The 8 a.m. advisory from Mississippi Department of Transportation said traffic is being diverted at Exit 13. The accident that closed the westbound lanes is past exit 2 of I-10.
At 11 a.m., traffic isn’t being diverted off I-10, but Robertson said many drivers are choosing to get off at Mississippi 603 and 43 and taking Mississippi 59 to I-12 in Louisiana.
The Sun Herald will update this article.
This story was originally published June 14, 2023 at 10:56 AM.
