Personal Injury Attorney in Santee, SC.

CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. - A massive 65-vehicle pileup shut down southbound lanes of Interstate 95 on Thursday, sending one person to the hospital by helicopter and leaving several others hurt.

The crash happened Thursday morning as dense fog blanketed a bridge over Lake Marion in the area of Clarendon and Orangeburg counties.

Santee fire officials reported that thick, dense fog engulfed the bridge, drastically reducing visibility until drivers had no time to stop.

In total, 15 eighteen-wheelers and 50 other cars were caught in the wreckage. First responders arrived to find some trucks twisted and smashed, several vehicles wedged beneath tractor-trailers, and crews working to free motorists from four entrapments.

No deaths have been reported. An update on the airlifted patient’s condition was not immediately available.

For travelers caught in the corridor, the sudden chain reaction created an immediate fight for safety. Noah Mandel was driving his family from Virginia to Walt Disney World when his blue car was swept into the pileup.

“It was crazy, it was one of those things that you don’t ever think is going to happen to you,” Mandel said. “You could see a car behind us just started to smoke and caught on fire. You could see other people in front were trapped in their cars and you’re all just kind of wondering what to do next.”

With Lake Marion directly below, Mandel noted how close the crash came to being far worse.

“It was definitely a thought in my mind of how lucky we were no one went over the edge into the water,” Mandel said.

Nearby residents could hear the disaster unfolding from their homes.

Mike Fausette, who lives nearby, described a deafening series of collisions.

“It was people running in the back of everybody and it was real loud,” Fausette said. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Emergency crews remained on the scene throughout the day, towing wreckage off the bridge.

Southbound I-95 remains closed, with traffic rerouted at a detour established at Exit 102.

Officials continue to urge all motorists to avoid Interstate 95 in the area while the cleanup operation continues.

A multi-vehicle crash Thursday on a stretch of Interstate 95 had traffic backed up for miles on one side of the highway and no vehicles at all on the other side.

All the southbound lanes on I-95 across Lake Marion in Clarendon County were closed as a result of the multi-vehicle wreck that happened Thursday morning, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

While vehicles were still on the northbound lanes of that 4-mile stretch of I-95, they were moving very slowly, a 14 mph clip, according to SCDOT.

????????Video from the Mass Casualty Incident on the I-95 bridge over Lake Marion near Santee, SC. ????????This was sent to me by Olivia Branch on Facebook. Weather nearby at Manning / Cooper Regional Airport at the time: Temp 64°F/Dewpoint 64°F - OVC001 (Overcast 100') - VIS .25… pic.twitter.com/iNS0VOQYeA

— ☈ Chris Jackson ☈ (@ChrisJacksonSC) October 1, 2026

Information about the cause of the collision, and the number of vehicles involved, was not available.

The South Carolina Department of Public Safety has not released information about any injuries.

The Clarendon County Coroner’s Office told The State that the crash has not caused any deaths.

Messages left with the South Carolina Highway Patrol were not immediately answered, but on social media Master Trooper William Bennett said “we do expect this to be an extended road closure.”

A detour is in place beginning at mile marker 102, according to SCDOT.

“We encourage drivers to avoid the area and plan alternate routes,” SCDOT officials said in a news release.

For those unable to avoid the area, SCDOT urged drivers to use caution and drive slowly.

There was no word when it’s expected that the lanes would be reopened and the scene cleared, or how it might affect the evening commute. SCDOT said it is continuing to “work closely with SCDPS and emergency responders to help restore travel.”