Officials release video of deadly 50-car pileup on I-35 near Ames

Luke Nozicka
The Des Moines Register

Officials have released video footage of a major pileup Monday involving 50 to 70 cars, buses and semi-trucks that killed one person and injured at least five others.

The Iowa Department of Transportation released the video that shows dozens of vehicles, including semi-trucks, sliding into the large pileup and off the road.

The crash killed Dana Easter, 53, of Independence, Missouri, authorities said. Easter was driving a bus when five vehicles collided with each other, causing several injuries.

Officials work on cleaning up a 70-vehicle pileup on  Interstate Highway 35 southbound Monday, Feb. 5, 2018, in Ames.

Between five and 10 injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals, though police officials could not provide an exact number of those injured Tuesday afternoon. 

Traffic was backed up on the highway so far that Story County Sheriff's Capt. Barry Thomas said he could not see from one end of the pileup to the other. 

The crash was one of 185 that State Patrol troopers responded to from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday throughout Iowa. Eight people were killed and at least 10 were injured across the state. 

In the Des Moines metro, 246 accidents were reported over the course of 36 hours.  

Since 2001, the most people killed on Iowa roads in a single day was 11 on Jan. 13, 2014, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.