FAIRFIELD — State police have released additional information about an pre-dawn chain reaction crash on Wednesday that closed southbound lanes of Interstate 81 in northern Rockbridge County for 10 hours and resulted in a fatality.
The crash occurred at 6:11 a.m. at mile marker 198 when a 2015 Honda Civic made an “unsafe” lane shift, moving from the left lane to the right lane, traveling at a low speed and driving without lights, state police said.
The Civic was struck by a tractor-trailer, which jackknifed and was struck by multiple vehicles and tractor-trailers. Eight vehicles were involved, four tractor-trailers and four passenger vehicles.
The driver of a 2016 Freightliner tractor-trailer, Consorcio Velasco-Nolasco, 63, of Alvarado, Texas, was wearing his seat belt and died at the scene. His truck crashed into the jackknifed tractor-trailer and then was struck by at least one passenger vehicle and another tractor-trailer.
State police said multiple occupants in all eight vehicles suffered a range of injuries requiring hospitalization.
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I-81’s southbound lanes were closed just south of the Fairfield rest area as crews worked to clear debris and spilled diesel fuel, which covered the roadway for at least two-tenths of a mile.
Two of the tractor-trailers spilled their loads during the crash, which also complicated the cleanup.
Lengthy backups occurred during the day as all southbound traffic was detoured off I-81 onto U.S. 11 between Fairfield and Lexington.
The incident remains under investigation by the Virginia State Police Crash Reconstruction Team, Motor Carrier Team and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
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