At least 12 hurt in massive pileup on Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - A 21-vehicle pileup closed the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 near downtown Oklahoma City for several hours on Tuesday morning..

An Oklahoma state trooper told KOCO News there was a series of about 10 collisions on the interstate near I-35 a little before 3 a.m. CT Tuesday as overnight drizzle turned to freezing rain in the area.

Video from KOCO showed at least one tractor trailer jack-knifed and more than a dozen emergency vehicles and tow trucks at the scene.

The wrecks involved more than a dozen cars and three tractor trailers, the state trooper said. KOCO reported at least 12 people were Injured, but none were considered very serious.

News 9 in Oklahoma City reports authorities were shuttling stranded drivers to a nearby hotel while crews worked to clear the scene of the pileup.

The pileup began when a semitrailer jackknifed on a bridge over the Oklahoma River. Other vehicles hit the truck, and then other semis slid into them.

The same storm moving through Oklahoma is set to spread east throughout Christmas Day, dropping snow across the lower-Midwest and potentially spawning strong winds and even tornadoes in parts of the southeast.

The road was reopened by a little after 8 a.m.