DENVER (KDVR) — At least 100 vehicles were involved in a crash on Friday morning after Denver received its first snowfall of the season.
The crash happened near 6th Avenue and Kalamath Street at a time when many people were just trying to get to work.
A man involved in the crash said that it was like the set of a movie.
“Some people were staying in their cars, other people were getting out. Those people who were getting out, I tried to help them over the median. There was a couple with a toddler that kind of threw the child over to me as they were getting over the median. There was another lady who was getting out of her car, and I helped her climb over the median. It was just chaos. It was like something out of a Final Destination movie,” Antonius shared.
One of the people involved in the crash said he was trying to drive to work Friday morning when he hit the black ice. He is devastated by the crash because his car may be totaled, and it was given to him by his late mother.
“I was sliding. I pretty much knew what was going to happen, so I just braced for impact. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to stop,” Drew Perrier explained.
Another person said he came over the hill and couldn’t stop.
“It was just black ice. For me, I came over the hill and I saw two people walking and I pumped my brakes, and I couldn’t stop. I just spun around and hit another car and another car hit. The lady that was behind me broke her arm and she was pinned in her car. It was just crazy,” Carlos Davidson shared.
Another man from Lakewood shared his experience during the crash.
“I was going down 6th avenue and I saw the wreck and I went to slow down. I hit the brakes and that’s when I slid. I hit the ice and the next thing you knew I was like the game of human ping pong,” Tim shared.
A truck driver said that even though he slowed down enough, it did not matter because people behind him didn’t.
“I was driving I slowed down enough. I had enough time to slow down. But people behind me didn’t so I got hit from the rear which started everything and then I got pushed into the pile,” Jose Gonzalez shared.
Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Travis Michels said the light snow likely melted on the warm roads, then temperatures dropped overnight and into the morning and were below freezing, which caused the ice on the bridges and overpasses.
Vehicles from the crash were towed to Lot C at Empower Field. The Colorado Department of Transportation reopened the highway around 11 a.m. on Friday.