The Nebraska State Patrol says one person was killed and five seriously injured on I-80 near Brule on Saturday afternoon. The crash involved 16 vehicles, several of which caught fire with the fire spreading into the grass.
The victim of the crash was an Iowa man, 56 year old Steven Wichman, from Pocahontas, Iowa, he was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Five others were injured including one patient who had life threatening injuries.. In addition to the fire several victims were trapped in their vehicle and had to be rescued.
Interstate 80 was closed in both directions until late Saturday night between Brule and Roscoe with the eastbound lanes opening a little before midnight and the westbound lanes opening just before 3:00a.m. The patrol says it appears that a dust storm contributed to the chain reaction crash.
It was a bad day on I-80 with two other crashes reported including a semi that rear-ended another semi and that was followed by another semi hitting an RV in the same area. That crash sent a total of 8 people to the hospital.
