KANNAPOLIS, NC (WBTV) -
All lanes of Interstate 85 are back open after a deadly multiple vehicle crash shut down the northbound lanes.
The incident was reported around 2 p.m. at mile marker 60 near the rest area in Kannapolis, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Two vans were heading southbound back home to South Carolina. When one of the vans slowed for traffic, the other van rear ended the first one, sending it across the median and hit a tractor trailer.
Both people in the van were ejected.
The passenger died at the scene. The driver was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in critical condition.
Video from Sky 3 shows an auto carrier and an HVAC service van involved.
Traffic was detoured onto Dale Earnhardt Boulevard at Exit 60 and Exit 58 at U.S. 29.
At one point, the backup stretched 14 miles for northbound traffic to W. Mallard Creek Church Road and 8 miles back to Exit 68 for southbound traffic.
A second crash occurred around 4 p.m. in the southbound lanes of I-85. Video from Sky 3 showed a car flipped on its side.
Troopers told WBTV it was a personal injury accident.
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