SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) A police chief says five people are dead after a tractor trailer smashed into two passenger cars and caught fire on Interstate 16 just west of Savannah.
Seven total vehicles were damaged in the crash Tuesday afternoon and a stretch of I-16 was shut down for hours near the busy interchange with Interstate 95.
Pooler Police Chief Mark Revenew said investigators are looking into the possibility that the crash was caused by a truck driver sleeping at the wheel. He says witnesses reported a tractor trailer was ``drifting in and out of lanes'' before slamming into cars ahead of it.
He said three people died in one car that was struck and two others were killed when their car was crushed between the tractor trailer and another big truck.
Just last month, five nursing students from Georgia Southern University were killed in a crash on that same stretch of I-16. A tractor trailer driver has been blamed in that deadly crash, as well.
