Vehicles are piled up at mile marker 286 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a mile outside Reading, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Portions of both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 78 were shut down in snowy eastern Pennsylvania Thursday after chain-reaction pileups involved dozens of vehicles on slippery roads. (AP Photo/David C. Ronk)
Highways Shutdown
Vehicles are piled up at mile marker 286 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a mile outside Reading, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Portions of both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 78 were shut down in snowy eastern Pennsylvania Thursday after chain-reaction pileups involved dozens of vehicles on slippery roads. (AP Photo/David C. Ronk)
Highways Shutdown
Vehicles are piled up at mile marker 286 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a mile outside Reading, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Portions of both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 78 were shut down in snowy eastern Pennsylvania Thursday after chain-reaction pileups involved dozens of vehicles on slippery roads. (AP Photo/David C. Ronk)
Highways Shutdown
Wreckage is seen on Interstate 78 near exit 40 in central Pennsylvania following a multiple vehicle accident Thursday Dec. 26, 2013. Pennsylvania State Police say multiple vehicle crashes have shut down Interstate 78’s westbound lanes in Berks County between mileposts 35 and 40. Police say the accident was first reported approximately 8:45 a.m. and there are no fatalities reported at this point. (AP Photo/Jeff DiLavore)
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READING, Pa. (AP) — Highways in eastern Pennsylvania have been reopened after being shut down for hours because of chain-reaction pileups that ensnared dozens of vehicles on snow-covered roads.
No deaths have been reported.
Pennsylvania Turnpike officials say 35 vehicles piled up Thursday, blocking westbound lanes and causing a 4-mile backup about 50 miles west of Philadelphia, between the Morgantown and Reading (REH’-ding) exits.
Turnpike spokeswoman Renee Colborn says the highway reopened after 5 p.m. and about 10 people were taken to hospitals.
Meanwhile, state police say 25 to 30 vehicles piled up on Interstate 78 and shut down about 5 miles of westbound lanes, also in Berks County.
The lanes reopened after 3 p.m. Trooper David Beohm (BAYM’) says 25 people were taken to hospitals and 44 were treated at the scene.
