Northbound traffic on I-85 in Coweta County was stopped for almost 3 1/2 hours Saturday because of a series of accidents that began with a six-vehicle wreck just a few minutes before 4 p.m.

People trying to escape the standstill by illegally crossing over the grass median caused more, less serious crashes in the southbound lanes, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

All northbound lanes were cleared at 7:22 p.m., said Newnan Patrol Post operator Julie Mihuc. From 4 p.m. until then, nothing moved to the north through Coweta.

The total number of injuries was unknown because the paperwork was still being processed, according to Mihuc. At least three people were flown by helicopter to Atlanta hospitals: Grady Memorial, Atlanta Medical Center and Scottish Rite. The identities and conditions of the three victims were not available.

When the patrol first got the calls, Mihuc said, troopers thought they were responding to a 10-vehicle accident. "But it was multiple accidents," she said.

The first involved a tractor-trailer and five cars at the Sharpsburg-McCollum exit. Three separate accidents followed as fast-moving cars came up on the stalled traffic.

Some frustrated drivers tried to escape the blocked northbound lanes by crossing over to the southbound lanes, but they caused smaller crashes.

Mihuc said the patrol didn't know how many total accidents happened in the area because some of them were handled by the Coweta County Sheriff's Office. Calls to the Sheriff's Office on Saturday night were answered by an automated system.

Troopers assigned to the nearby Griffin post were called as backup.