Photos from the scene show several tractor-trailers scattered along I-57, both on the road and in the median of the highway. The contents of the trucks — some pink material, others white — are also seen strewn on the road as crews surround the area.
Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker told CNN the names of the victims have not been released.
“We’re going through the identification process, and then notification of families,” Parker said.
“Both directions are closed and there is a large-scale cleanup underway as well as continuing major-crash fatality scene investigation,” the Missouri Department of Public Safety tweeted.
The coroner said they do not expect the number of fatalities to grow. “The recovery stage is over,” according to Parker.
The crashes happened near the city of Charleston, near the state’s border with Missouri along the Mississippi River. The cause of the crashes are under investigation.
