1 critically injured after 9-vehicle crash near Las Vegas

At least one person was critically injured Saturday in a crash involving two semitrucks and seven passenger vehicles on southbound Interstate 15 near Primm.

The crash was reported just after 8:10 a.m., causing a freeway closure in both directions for about an hour before northbound lanes reopened about 9:15 a.m., and all southbound lanes reopened about 5:45 p.m, according to a tweet from the Nevada Highway Patrol.

#update All travel lanes are now open on I-15 southbound at Primm. Use caution as crews are still on scene completing the cleanup in the right shoulder. #drivesafenv #buckleup #drivesober #nhpsocomm

— NHP Southern Command (@NHPSouthernComm) January 6, 2019

Shortly before the crash, the California Highway Patrol had shut down southbound traffic on I-15 just south of Primm for a vehicle pursuit, creating heavy traffic congestion.

Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Buratczuk said Saturday afternoon that the vehicle involved in the pursuit did not cause the crash.

The chain-reaction of crashes that happened during traffic congestion was later caused by a semitruck who “failed to yield” to the slowed traffic, Buratczuk said.

The driver of the semitruck was flown to University Medical Center in critical condition, he said, while another driver was driven to the hospital with unknown injuries.

The other driver was in stable condition Saturday afternoon, but investigators have been unable to interview the semitruck driver about the cause of the crash due to his condition, Buratczuk said.

Photos tweeted by the agency just before 1 p.m. showed a mangled semitruck sitting near a jackknifed semitruck in the median. In the background, at least two passenger vehicles, one of which also was mangled, sat on the side of the highway.

Buratczuk said 25 to 35 gallons of diesel fuel had spilled onto the highway during the crash.

“Diesel takes a long time to clean up,” he said, “and it’s very slick.”

HAZMAT crews were at the scene as of 1 p.m. cleaning up the spilled fuel.

#FASTALERT 05-Jan-19 12PM,=UPDATE=,
Major Crash I-15 Southbound, Highway Remains Closed Jean thru Primm, Alternate Detour: I-11 to US-95 South to I-40

— RTC Southern Nevada (@RTCSNV) January 5, 2019

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Katelyn Newberg contributed to this report.