The charred remains of vehicles and debris sit on Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, as road crews work to clear them the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press
GALESBURG, Mich. (AP) - All lanes of Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan reopened early Sunday, two days after a 193-vehicle pileup on the snowy highway, authorities said.
State transportation officials reopened the eastbound lanes about 4:30 a.m., a few hours after the westbound ones.
The chain of crashes happened Friday morning in Kalamazoo County, 150 miles east of Chicago. A 57-year-old trucker from Quebec was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. A truck carrying fireworks caught fire, triggering an explosion; that driver wasn't hurt.
Efforts to reopen the highway stalled Saturday as crews tried to remove acid from a tanker truck.
State police Lt. Dale Hinz said towing so many vehicles was "brutal," with temperatures barely above zero.
Travis Harpster is a dispatcher at McDonald's Towing & Rescue Inc. in Kalamazoo, where most of the vehicles were towed. He asked for patience from those affected.
"At this point we are still entering everyone into the system," he told MLive.com Sunday morning. "And as of right now we hope to start releasing cars around noonish."
There is minor pitting from the vehicle fires in parts of the eastbound lanes, creating a rough surface. State transportation officials are posting signs to warn oncoming vehicles.
Ryan Bovee's car was struck by a van, although he was allowed to drive away a few hours after the pileup happened.
"You just kept hearing the crunches of the vehicles hitting," the 35-year-old said. "It was unreal."
Officials say they will hold a meeting to look at the coordinated response by local, state and private groups.
Road crews work to clear wrecked vehicles and debris along Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press
Road crews work to clear wrecked vehicles and debris along Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press
The charred remains of vehicles sits in a ravine along Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, as road crews work to clear them the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press
Road crews work to clear wrecked vehicles and debris along Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press
Road crews work to clear wrecked vehicles and debris along Interstate 94, Saturday, Jan. 10, 0215, the day after a series of crashes closed the highway between mile markers 88 and 92 in eastern Kalamazoo County, near Galesburg, Mich. The number of vehicles involved in the series of crashes Friday has fluctuated. State police now say there were 193, including dozens of semi-trucks. A trucker from Ottawa, Canada, was killed and about two dozen people were taken to hospitals. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Christian Randolph) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; LOCAL TELEVISION INTERNET OUT
The Associated Press