911 callers helplessly watched I-10 horror unfold Investigation into horrific Thanksgiving pileup continues

Cars and Trucks are piled on Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP Photo/The Beaumont Enterprise, Guiseppe Barranco) less Cars and Trucks are piled on Interstate 10 in Southeast Texas Thursday Nov. 22, 2012. The Texas Department of Public Safety says at least 35 people have been injured in a more than 50-vehicle pileup. (AP ... more Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Associated Press Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Associated Press Image 1 of / 50 Caption Close 911 callers helplessly watched I-10 horror unfold 1 / 50 Back to Gallery

BEAUMONT — While they implored police dispatchers to send help, 911 callers helplessly watched more cars slam into each other on Interstate 10, barely making out the vehicles sandwiched between 18-wheelers and other cars through thick layers of fog.

In one of the first calls received by local dispatch during the 100-car pileup on Thanksgiving Day, a woman frantically explains that she just witnessed an 18-wheeler hit another vehicle, according to recordings provided by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.

On another call, cries from bystanders can be heard in the background. Other witnesses warned emergency officials to take care because the fog was so thick.

"All the cars are crushed," said one caller, who told dispatch his trailer was hit. "More people are coming in here and hitting each other."

The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating the initial cause of the pileups.

So far, DPS and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is blaming thick fog and high speeds for the 100-car pileup, the largest wreck in the area's recent history.

Chris Mabry, an independent Beaumont insurance agent, said the wrecks likely will incur insurance settlements in the "seven-figure" range.

The settlements will run high because of the two people who died in the pileup, the numbers of injuries, the high numbers of vehicles involved and because it includes 18-wheeler trucks.

At least three of the about 80 people who were transported to the hospital from last week's pileup were still hospitalized in area hospitals as of Monday.

At least three more with critical injuries were sent to hospitals in Houston shortly after the accident, two of whom were children.

Two Pearland residents, Vincent Leggio, 64, and his wife, Debra Leggio, 60, died in the crash.