VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Florida troopers said “super fog” is to blame for five separate crashes overnight Thursday on Interstate 95 in Volusia County that left three people dead.
Crews have spent almost the entire day working to clear the charred wreckage from I-95 in the Edgewater area.
TIMELINE: 3 dead after 5 crashes close 18-mile stretch of I-95 in Volusia County
Drone video shot by Eyewitness News shows just how poor visibility was between State Road 44 and State Road 5A because of the smoke and thick fog.
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Both north and southbound traffic on I-95 was stopped was stopped for several hours as crews work in the area.
Highway traffic cameras captured a red-and-orange fireball explosion during one of the crashes.
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One woman was killed and at least four people in 11 different vehicles were hurt in the northbound lanes.
A child was also airlifted to an Orlando hospital.
“Some cars started slowing down, some didn’t. Some stopped, and we had chain reaction of crashes,” said Lt. Kim Montes with the Florida Highway Patrol.
Another six vehicles crashed in the southbound lanes, killing two others.
Witnesses said dense fog and smoke made it nearly impossible to see around the time of the crash.
WATCH: Channel 9 news crew, Drone 9 witness low visibility near I-95 deadly crashes
“That’s why all this stuff happened here, because you couldn’t see anyone. I couldn’t see my hand,” said witness Johnny Johnson.
A large diesel fuel spill also created a more complicated cleanup.
The Edgewater Fire-Rescue Department posted online Wednesday about smoke in the area for a prescribed burn.
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