Tennessee Highway Patrol identif

LOUDON CO., Tenn. (WVLT) - Multiple crashes shut down I-75 South in Loudon County Friday afternoon, according to officials with the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office.

The crashes were just four miles apart.

One crash was at mile marker 74 near the Tennessee River Bridge involving seven cars. The rescue squad brought a boat because one of the vehicles went over the bridge and into the water. The Tennessee Highway Patrol later said on Saturday that this was a deadly crash.

The other crash was just three miles south at mile marker 70, according to LCSO.

According to preliminary reports from THP, the crash at mile marker 70 happened around 4:30 on Friday when a Ford F-150 failed to stay in its lane and struck the left side bridge railing. The truck then ran off the left side of the road and overturned, hitting several small trees. The passenger, identified as 79-year-old Mary Edgeworth, died from injuries sustained in the crash. The driver, who was also injured, is not facing charges.

The second crash happened at around 5:07 p.m. at mile marker 74 as a result of congestion from the crash four miles ahead. The preliminary report says a Toyota Tacoma driven by a juvenile with no driver’s license hit another Toyota Tacoma that slowed down for the congestion. This then caused a chain reaction involving five other vehicles, including a Honda Accord driven by Buffie Barker that hit the retaining wall and another car before going airborne over the Tennessee River Bridge and into the river. Barker died in the crash, and three other people involved in the crash sustained injuries.

The interstate was closed for several hours, reopening Saturday morning after Barker’s car was recovered from the Tennessee River late Friday night.

Crews with Priority Ambulance Service, Loudon County Fire/Rescue, Loudon Fire Department, Loudon County Emergency Management, Loudon Police Department, and Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency were also on scene.

On Monday, WVLT News spoke with a witness who said he saw Barker’s car go over the retaining wall and into the Tennessee River.

Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw also talked about ways to make the interstate safer for people traveling in Loudon County but explained that it would be difficult and expensive to accomplish.

‘It was just chaos’ | Driver describes seeing car go into Tennessee River in deadly I-75 crash The mayor also talked about ways to make the interstate safer for people traveling in Loudon County.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Tennessee Highway Patrol continues to investigate after two people died in separate crashes miles apart on I-75 South Friday evening. Traffic was backed up for hours after the crashes Friday night as first responders searched the Tennessee River for a car that went over the bridge and into the water.

Nathan Schultz said he saw the crash happen first-hand.

“I came to a stop, and the car behind me came to a stop, and then it was just chaos from there. It was just cars running into the back of each other,” Schultz said.

Schultz said he got out of his car to get check the several cars involved in the wreck. He also said he saw the car go into the Tennessee River.

“It hit the back left edge of the car in front of them and went airborne and barrel rolled over the side of the wall,” Schultz said.

He also said traffic came to a quick stop near the bridge. Loudon County Mayor Buddy Bradshaw said a crash on I-75 South near mile marker 70 happened before the deadly wreck.

“Finding out there was a car in the water made it all the more real,” Mayor Bradshaw said.

The mayor also talked about ways to make the interstate safer for people traveling in Loudon County.

One thing he mentioned was widening I-75, something he said could help as Loudon County continues to grow, but he knows this could be hard.

Mayor Bradshaw said, “To make it a 6-lane would be an undertaking because it is a 2-lane bridge through the site right there. That’d be quite an undertaking and quite expensive.”