Wyoming officials on Sunday said a third death has been confirmed from a fiery multi-vehicle pileup inside an interstate tunnel.
Details about the death were unavailable, with the Wyoming Department of Transportation saying in a statement Sunday that a third fatality was confirmed as Friday's crash was being investigated and wreckage was being cleared.
The now-shuttered tunnel that's part of coast-to-coast Interstate 80 could be ready for two-way traffic to share its eastbound portion by Wednesday, the department of transportation said on Sunday.
Oversized vehicles will still have to use detours, the department said.
It said an estimated 26 vehicles, 16 of which are commercial vehicles such as semi trailer trucks, were involved in the late-morning crash, with eight of the vehicles destroyed.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will investigate in cooperation with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, but authorities have said getting inside the Interstate 80 tunnel in Green River had been difficult.
The pileup sparked a raging fire that damaged the tunnel's lining, highway patrol and transportation officials said at a news conference Saturday.
Wreckage from the late-morning crash was still an obstacle Saturday, and the danger from possible toxins produced by the fire was unclear, highway patrol Maj. James Thomas said.
First responders who rushed to the 11:38 a.m. crash in Green River were met by black smoke billowing from the tunnel and then, closer to the wreckage, flames so hot that transportation department officials said they caused concrete lining to fall, officials said.
The blaze "prevented some of the life saving measures," Thomas said.
Speaking at the news conference on Saturday, Gov. Mark Gordon said those first on scene did their best as they faced the fire.
"The circumstances were really tough and did not allow for as much as everybody wanted to do," he said.
Local state prosecutors will be apprised of the situation should possible criminal culpability play a role in the origin of the pileup, the governor said.
Traffic was being routed through the streets of Green River, a city of around 11,000 people in the southwest region of the state.
Interstate 80 runs from San Francisco to New Jersey, about three miles short of New York City.
John Eddins, a Wyoming Department of Transportation engineer, said fire damage to the middle third of the tunnel, which routes the interstate under a mountain, is "extensive," though he said initial observations indicate no structural damage.
On Saturday, Gordon qualified his description of the number of dead, saying, "It’s particularly sad that we have a couple of fatalities, at least so far."
The Associated Press on Friday reported that five people were seriously injured in the crash; a highway patrol spokesperson would not confirm that figure, referring an inquiry to the department of transportation's written statements, which did not provide the number of injured.
Representatives from a local hospital and the area medical examiner did not respond to requests for information.
On Friday, the governor called the crash a tragedy, saying he is “praying for all concerned and their families.”
The region has been under a National Weather Service hazardous weather outlook calling for snow. The transportation department reported a slick and slush-lined Interstate 80 in parts of the state on Friday.
