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Wet road, heavy traffic blamed for series of crashes on I-75

Staff photo by KATY KUEHNER

The charter bus was taking a church group from Sarasota to Gatlinburg, Tenn.

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TBO.com

Published: September 27, 2009

Updated: 09/28/2009 07:11 am

TAMPA - Rain, wet road conditions and lots of traffic are being blamed for a series of crashes of Interstate 75 north of State Road 60 in Tampa on Sunday.

The first of eight crashes happened in the northbound lanes of I-75 and caused a chain reaction that led to seven more traffic crashes, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. Altogether, 19 vehicles were involved and six people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a news release from the highway patrol.

One of the first crashes included a bus chartered by First Baptist Church of Sarasota that was en route to Gatlinburg, Tenn., to attend a religious jubilee, said Sgt. Larry Kraus, a highway patrol spokesman. More than 40 people were on the bus.

The crashes started happening at 3:11 p.m. The northbound lanes of I-75 at State Road 60 were closed until 6:10 p.m.

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