“There were nine injuries. I think the worst I’m hearing are some broken bones.”
And during a briefing to the county commissioners Ottawa County sheriff Eric DeBoer said all of the injured people are expected to recover.
“Nothing short of a miracle no one was hurt worse. While we don’t want to see 100 car pile ups, it was a success as far as how that went.”
The 100-vehicle pile-up Monday morning on snow covered Interstate 196 closed the highway in both directions between Hudsonville and Zeeland. It took about 8 hours to clear the wreckage.
“A lot of good work done out there by our emergency management group and our road patrol and our partners in fire, tow companies and ambulances.”
County Commissioner Jacob Bonnema says the community responded to the crisis, the Hudsonville school district in particular, sending buses to bring people stranded on the highway to shelter in the high school.
“Used their school buses to help get those people off the road to safety and get them warmed up and get them back to their families. It’s great to see the community come together, it really is. The county, the township, the school district all work hand in hand.”
AP Video:
