Five people die from pileups on foggy Missouri interstate

CHARLESTON, Mo. (AP) — Officials say the five people died in a series of fiery chain-reaction crashes involving dozens of vehicles in southeast Missouri on a fog-covered interstate. The Mississippi County coroner initially announced a sixth death in the collisions but the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s final report said five people died. The collisions began about 8 a.m. March 17 on Interstate 57 as thick fog enveloped the Charleston area, about 150 miles south of St. Louis. The interstate was closed for about 25 miles in both directions in Mississippi County from the Missouri-Illinois border to Sikeston, Missouri.