Watch: 100-vehicle pileup shuts down snowy Oregon interstate

A massive collision involving 100 vehicles, including lorries, made a pileup on an Oregon highway bringing traffic to a standstill during a severe snowstorm on Thursday, officials reported.

Multiple crashes resulted in a sport utility vehicle catching fire and blocked a section of Interstate-84, where numerous people were stranded in their vehicles during late morning, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office.


Official photographs shared by law enforcement displayed a completely burnt SUV, although all occupants managed to escape unharmed.

Emergency services conducted vehicle-by-vehicle checks for people requiring assistance. While some injuries were noted, the total number of casualties remained uncertain by Thursday afternoon, New York Post reported.

"Most of the reported crashes are non-injury or minor injury," an Oregon state police spokesperson said, according to KATU. "There are no known fatal injuries or even serious injuries at this time."

"The visibility was so low by the time we got to the stopped traffic," one of the travellers told KATU.

"We tried to stop; we ended up smashing into a semi-truck and another passenger truck and got stuck there for a minute.

"We heard somewhere crashes behind us, so we decided to go ahead and go ahead and go through, in between the semi-truck and the median."

The hazardous conditions prompted the Oregon Department of Transportation to close the highway in both directions between La Grande and Baker City, spanning approximately 50 miles.

"Closures are due to blowing and drifting snow with visibility less than 500 feet," the state DOT announced before subsequently reopening the section.