Seven Vehicle Chain Reaction Crash Near Paris

A bizarre seven-vehicle chain-reaction crash in Monroe County injures two and closes a portion of Highway 24 for a number of hours Tuesday.

The Missouri Highway Patrol reports the crash happened at 9:45 a.m. on US 24, three miles west of Paris.  Troopers say six vehicles--including two semis-- were stopped for a flagman in a construction zone.  A seventh vehicle—a semi driven by 64 year-old Leslie Thrasher of Clarence, came onto the scene and crashed into one of the stopped cars, pushing it into another vehicle.  The Thrasher semi continued on and sideswiped two vehicles, overturned, then struck the trailer of a stopped semi which resulted in another chain reaction crash involving a car and a semi. The Thrasher semi finally came to rest on its side across both lanes of US 24.  Thrasher suffered serious injuries and was flown to University Hospital in Columbia. A 16-year-old Paris teen driving one of the stopped vehicles also suffered serious injuries and was taken by ambulance to a Columbia hospital.

One of the semis was hauling a load of hogs, which necessitated calling in a veterinarian as well as Dept. of Agriculture officials to corral the escaped pigs and properly dispose of hogs that perished in the crash.