A motorist that police said was driving the wrong way on I-75 in Henry County early Tuesday was among two people critically injured in a multi-vehicle collision that shut down all northbound lanes of the interstate for more than five hours.
Henry County police Lt. Joey Smith said the wreck happened about 1 a.m., just north of Eagles Landing Parkway.
Smith said a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche headed south in the northbound lanes hit a 2007 Toyota Prius, a 2015 Toyota Corolla, a Chevrolet Traverse and a 2006 Toyota Avalon.
The wrong-way driver was not buckled in and was ejected in the crash, Smith said. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and was in critical condition late Tuesday morning, according to Smith.
He said the driver of the Prius was taken to Atlanta Medical Center, and was also in critical condition.
The driver and passengers in the Corolla were taken to Atlanta Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, Smith said, while a child in the Traverse was taken to Children’s Hospital of Atlanta at Egleston with a cut to the head. The driver and passenger in the Avalon refused to go to the hospital, he said.
Smith said it was not yet known if the driver of the Avalanche was driving under in the influence or where he entered the interstate heading the wrong way.
The names of those injured in the wreck have not been released.
The northbound lanes of the interstate were shut down until just before 6:30 a.m., when all lanes were reopened.
The crash was the second in three days on I-75 involving a wrong way driver.
Early Sunday, Jorge Solis of Ellenwood was driving a Ford F-350 north in the southbound lanes of I-75 when he collided head-on with a car near the Fulton-Clayton county line, Atlanta police Officer Kim Jones previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The crash killed Michael Furlow, 49; Kaybrin Osborne, 8; and Halle Young, 7, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
A second adult man, Mike Osborne, and a 3-year-old child, also in the car, were seriously injured and taken to the hospital for treatment, police said.
Solis, who investigators believe was driving under the influence, was being held without bond Monday in the Fulton County jail on numerous charges stemming from the wreck.
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