Mental Hospital Patients Die In Collision

A tractor-trailer triggered a rush-hour pileup on Interstate 85 on Friday that killed six patients in a van from a state mental hospital. At least 12 people were injured, authorities said.

The wreck involved at least 22 people in five vehicles. All the dead were among the 13 passengers in the van from the state-run John Umstead Hospital in Butner, about 10 miles north of the accident site.

According to the Highway Patrol, the accident happened about 5:30 p.m. in an area where traffic in the two northbound lanes was merging into one lane because of bridge renovation project. As the tractor-trailer merged, it clipped a van, which went on to hit other vehicles. At the same time, the tractor-trailer hit the van from the mental hospital.

The tractor-trailer carried the van over the median, across the southbound lanes and onto a service road.

Among the 12 people taken to Durham hospitals, at least four were in critical condition.