Overview
- The pileup, which began with a 10:20 p.m. Monday crash near the Florida Turnpike interchange, was followed by a second wreck at 11:34 p.m. that turned fatal.
- Southbound lanes shut down overnight with traffic routed off at State Road 44, and the highway reopened around noon Tuesday.
- FHP says debris from the first wreck covered all southbound lanes, then a fourth tractor-trailer failed to slow and hit another semi, triggering a chain reaction involving four big rigs.
- A 60-year-old Georgia truck driver was thrown from his cab and died at a hospital, and another truck driver suffered serious injuries as troopers withheld names pending notification.
- The closure choked the morning commute for drivers from Marion County into Wildwood, and investigators are still reviewing the crashes and any potential charges.