A pile-up of 150 vehicles on I-94 due to snowy roads caused trucks carrying fireworks to burn and resulted in the closure of the freeway. The incident happened between Battle Creek and Galesburg on Friday at around 10 a.m.

One person, a trucker from Ottawa, Canada, died in the accident and many were injured, according to Lt. Rick Pazder of the Michigan Police, reports Detroit Free Press.

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Hospitals in the area said they treated 16 people, one of them in serious condition. Some were sent to Bronson Methodist Hospital and others to Borgess Medical Center, both in Kalamazoo.

Besides the truck with fireworks, other vehicles also burned in the smashup west of Exit 92. The burning truck caused aerial explosions.

According to Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard C. Fuller, the first crash occurred halfway between Battle Creek and Galesburg on eastbound lanes. Also on the southbound lanes, vehicles started to pile up as they slammed one after another into cars in front and the median barrier, causing a stretch of vehicle hundreds of yards in the western lanes.

The Michigan Department of Transportation closed I-94 in both directions, beginning from Exit 88 east of Galesburg up to Exit 92 west of Battle Creek.

Fire crews and cops from Battle Creek joined forces in clearing and removing the smashed-up and burnt vehicles, while two Battle Creek Transit buses transported the crash victims who weren't injured to a Galesburg-Augusta school to provide them warmth since it was 12 degrees.

By 1 p.m., most of the victims had been moved to the school, which didn't have classes because of the snow storm. Kellogg Community College and Robert Miller College were also closed.

Since the area is still a very chaotic, law enforcers advise motorists to avoid I-94 which will be closed likely the whole Friday afternoon.

People within a 1-mile radius were also asked to be indoors because of the hazardous material caused by the burning trucks, reports Weather.com.

TagsMichigan, I-94 accident