‘Super fog’ near New Orleans leads to deadly car pileups

Seven people are dead and dozens more injured after a “Super Fog” caused a massive vehicle pileup on an interstate highway in Louisiana on Monday, the Associated Press reports.

St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office Chief Mike Tregre told New Orleans, La., Fox affiliate WUVE that the deadly 25-vehicle pileup happened along I-55 west of New Orleans between Ruddock and Manchac, resulting in closures in both directions. 

A “Super Fog” is when a “mixture of smoke and moisture released from damp smoldering organic material such as brush, leaves and trees, mixes with cooler, nearly saturated air,” according to the National Weather Service. 

That fog type can also lower visibility to less than 10 feet and can be very dangerous when present over highways, causing large vehicle pileups. The fog was combined with a wildfire happening nearby. 

Tregre said about three 18-wheel trucks collided and were engulfed in flames in the northbound lanes of the highway. Two multiple-vehicle pileups were also reported on the southbound lanes, with one bursting into flames.

At least seven people are dead, and 30 others are injured in the result of the pileup, Tregre said, noting that authorities expect more fatalities to be confirmed through the rescue effort. 

“The tractor that pulls the tank is damaged, so they’re gonna have to offload the chemical from that one to a backup tanker which they’ll have to bring to the site,” Department of Environmental Quality press secretary Greg Langley told WUVE. 

Louisiana has experienced a string of unpredictable weather conditions since the summer that have included wildfires, extreme heat and drought conditions across the state, according to CNN.