At least one dead in crashes on eastbound I-70 near Blackwater

UPDATE 5:37 P.M.: According to the crash report, a 2016 Chevrolet Cruz was slowing to a stop due to a crash that was off the south side of the road. on I-70 at the 91.6 mile marker.

A 2014 Chrysler Town and Country didn’t see the Cruz slowing down and hit the rear of it.

The Cruz spun off the right side of the roadway and hit a parked 2012 Honda Civic.

The two victims that died in the crash were identified as James Smith, 45, of Benton, IA and Jody Smith, 45, of Boone, IA.

UPDATE 12:07 P.M.: All lanes back open on eastbound I-70.

UPDATE 11:53 A.M.: One lane has been reopened.

ORIGINAL STORY: A double fatal crash in Cooper County has caused both lanes of eastbound I-70 to close near Blackwater at mile marker 92, according to Missouri Department of Transportation.

The Missouri Highway Patrol has confirmed to ABC 17 News there are 2 crashes in the area of mile marker 92.

No word on if both are related, but one crash involved 2 vehicles and resulted in at least one injury, and the other crash involved 3 vehicles and resulted in at least one death.

Traffic is reportedly backed up for miles.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_KC/status/1014887969486987265″,”author_name”:”MoDOT Kansas City”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_KC”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Breaking: Double fatal traffic crash EB I-70 @ MM 92.4 in Cooper County (MO) near Booneville. Backup is several miles. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/kctraffic?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#kctraffic&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/cutxsF99Vd”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/cutxsF99Vd&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– MoDOT Kansas City (@MoDOT_KC) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_KC/status/1014887969486987265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;July 5, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1014887834673668096″,”author_name”:”MoDOT Central Dist”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/I70ALERT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#I70ALERT&#lt;/a&#gt;: Both eastbound lanes closed at mile marker 92 near Blackwater (western Cooper Co.) due to a collision. Eastbound traffic is being diverted at mile marker 88, north to Route Z, east on Routes M, OO & Route 135, before back to eastbound I-70. Expect significant delays. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/Y0a3wQr2pv”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/Y0a3wQr2pv&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– MoDOT Central Dist (@MoDOT_Central) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1014887834673668096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;July 5, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

MoDOT is diverting traffic at mile marker 88 north onto Route Z, then east on Routes M, OO, & Route 135, to get cars back on I-70.

MoDOT is also encouraging drivers to take U.S. Route 65 north from I-70 and go through Marshall, Missouri. Then take Route 41 south to get back on I-70.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1014901291615752194″,”author_name”:”MoDOT Central Dist”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/I70UPDATE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#I70UPDATE&#lt;/a&#gt;: Due to the traffic crash on I-70 near mile marker 92, eastbound travelers are also encouraged to take U.S. Route 65 north from I-70 to Marshall, then take Route 41 south to I-70. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/VorMMeqiCN”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/VorMMeqiCN&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– MoDOT Central Dist (@MoDOT_Central) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/MoDOT_Central/status/1014901291615752194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;July 5, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

If you are heading that direction, expect significant delays, and avoid the area if possible.