NEWPORT, Ky. – Officials say a car plunged into the Ohio River after a massive pileup on a bridge leading from Kentucky to Cincinnati, which also affected voting in four southwestern Ohio counties during Tuesday’s crucial primary election.
It remained unknown hours after the crash Tuesday how many people were inside when the car toppled over the side of the bridge.
Campbell County Police Chief Craig Sorrell say 12 vehicles were involved in four separate accidents at rush hour on the Combs-Hehl Bridge, which carries I-275 from Campbell County, Kentucky, to Cincinnati.
He says the accidents caused a chain reaction as other cars tried to slow down and navigate around them. The vehicle was about halfway across the bridge when it was involved in another crash, fell over the side and plunged into the river below.
Sorrell says sonar imagining located the vehicle on the riverbed Tuesday night.
Because of the traffic jam, a federal judge ordered polls in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren Counties will remain open until 8:30 p.m., according to a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.