MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A day after a deadly multi-car crash, a witness told WREG that he tried to help victims.
Memphis Police said that five vehicles were involved in the wreck on I-40 and N. Hollywood around 3:30 on Saturday afternoon.
Officials said that while vehicle #1 was traveling westbound on I-40 W and struck the rear of vehicle #2, which was also traveling westbound on I-40.
That caused vehicle #2 to strike the rear of vehicle #3 and vehicle #3 struck the rear of vehicle #4. Vehicle #4 then struck the rear trailer of vehicle #5.
Following the death of three people, Youth Villages provided WREG with the following statement:
We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Ms. Tonya Cannady along with her two sons, Barry and Scott, in yesterday’s horrific car crash. Ms. Cannady was a wonderful part of our organization, celebrating 22 years with Youth Villages this year. She touched the lives of thousands over that time, including children and staff, most recently serving as our nutrition services manager for our West Tennessee residential locations. Our hearts go out to her family during this time. She will be missed by so many of us.”
Youth Villages
The ages of Cannady’s children have not been released.
The wreck led to all westbound lanes of the interstate being shut down for hours.
MPD: Three killed in I-40 multi-car accident
A WREG reporter spoke with a man who said he’s an Army reservist and has trained for casualty situations.
After seeing the crash, he pulled over to help a woman try to break a window of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was involved.
He described to WREG what happened next.
“I go to the driver’s side and I’m able to pull the driver out and I unbuckle the passenger but by the time I get over there the car is already going up in flames and another bystander passes me a fire extinguisher and we try to use that to put the fire out but it’s not enough,” he said. “I just want to offer my condolences to the family, I feel really bad for the family and all the loss they’re going through in such a short amount of time.”
Police told us a fourth person was also hospitalized, but should be okay.
WREG has reached out to investigators for more information about what happened.
We will update this story when more information becomes available.
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