A dump truck spilled a load of mud inside a traffic tunnel, causing a chain-reaction crash of 23 vehicles on Friday in suburban New Orleans. Eighteen people were taken to hospitals, including a woman in labor.
The dump truck driver fled the scene, Louisiana State Police spokesman Joseph Piglia said. If found, the driver could face charges and be held liable for damage to the tunnel.
No one was seriously hurt, Piglia said. The condition of the pregnant woman was not immediately available.
The crash occurred about 1 p.m. inside Harvey Tunnel, which passes under the Harvey Canal on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Vehicles hit each other and the tunnel itself.
Inspections found no major damage of the tunnel structure, said Buzzy Wegener, the Department of Transportation and Development's assistant district administrator of operations for New Orleans.
A half-hour after the crash, August Bertrand was still visibly shaken as he waited for tow trucks to pull his damaged car from the wreckage.
"It was like a slush down there," Bertrand told The Times Picayune. "There wasn't any stopping."
The tunnel's eastbound lanes reopened around 5:30 p.m. but the westbound lanes remained closed as crews worked to remove the wreckage and the mud, AP reported.