Three Indonesian nationals were left dead and two sent to the hospital in critical condition after a deadly pile-up crushed their car on Monday night local time in Mississippi, the US.

A local news portal reported that Mississippi Highway Patrol investigators and other agencies were still trying to piece together what had happened in the accident on highway I-10 between Mississippi and Louisiana in Hancock County, Mississippi.

Highway patrol spokesperson Chase Elkins said a passenger car had been rear-ended by an 18-wheeled truck at about 9 p.m. on Monday night, sending the car into another 18-wheeler. A fourth vehicle then hit the car, which was left completely crushed.

Elkins said the car was in the right lane of the westbound roadway of highway I-10, near the Louisiana line. The left lane had been shut down for construction. The portion of the interstate affected by the wreck was shut down for about six hours.

"All we know is the people in the car were from Indonesia," Elkins said, as quoted by the Sun Herald. "The coroner is having a tough time notifying the next of kin and we cannot release the names of those killed at this time."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Diaspora Network in the US is reportedly raising funds to support the victims via crowdfunding site GoFundMe.com, using the title: “Help Indonesians: 4 car crash 1-10”. The donations will be used to cover medical bills and other expenses.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said representatives from the Indonesian consulate general in Houston, Texas, were heading to the location, six hours' drive from Houston.

“[The coordinating] was done directly with the help of friends of the victims in the US,” Arrmanatha said as quoted by kompas.com.

Currently, two victims' bodies are at Edmund Fahey Funeral Home in St. Bay Louis, Mississippi, while one has been taken to the New Orleans Coroner's Office.

Injured victims are reportedly being treated at two different hospitals: the Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Mississippi, and the University Medical Center in New Orleans.

Source:
courtesy of THE JAKARTA POST

by Damar Harsanto

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