KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Four people were killed in a wrong-way crash involving multiple vehicles on Interstate 85 in Kannapolis Tuesday night, North Carolina State Highway Patrol confirmed.
Kannapolis firefighters responded to a crash in the southbound lanes of I-85 north of the Dale Earnhardt Boulevard (Exit 60) around 7 p.m. State troopers said a driver going the wrong way on I-85 started a chain reaction that involved six vehicles. The driver and rear passenger of the wrong-way vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. The front passenger was airlifted to Atrium Health's Carolinas Medical Center where she died from her injuries.
The driver of the vehicle that was hit, a 44-year-old man from Magnolia, North Carolina, died from his injuries at a Charlotte hospital.
All southbound lanes of I-85 were shut down for multiple hours while crews worked to clear the scene and investigate the crash.
The closure started at the exit for Old Beatty Ford Road near China Grove in Rowan County. The southbound lanes of I-85 in Cabarrus County were temporarily closed in response. All lanes are now open, though.
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