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A multivehicle accident Wednesday in the eastbound lane of the Ohio Turnpike ties up traffic near Clyde, Ohio. Pileups on the Ohio Turnpike involving at least 50 vehicles killed three people and seriously injured a state trooper.

(Jeren Wadsworth, Toledo Blade via AP)

Three fatalities are reported after a huge pileup on the Ohio Turnpike northeast of Clyde.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Pileups on the Ohio Turnpike involving at least 50 vehicles killed three people and seriously injured a state trooper on Wednesday as a late-winter storm swept through the Midwest and the Northeast, ending a fleeting spring-like thaw.

Emergency workers on the busy toll road struggled to reach accidents and stuck vehicles because of snowy conditions and traffic backups. Pileups stretched across a two-mile section in the eastbound lanes of the turnpike between Toledo and Cleveland. Another series of pileups about 10 miles to the east shut down the turnpike's westbound lanes near Sandusky.

Drivers sat for hours, a few braving the cold to stretch their legs, said Mike Ramella, a salesman from the Cleveland suburb of Westlake.

"I'm just sending emails, still working," said Ramella, who was in the middle of a seven-mile backup.

According to WKYC Channel 3,

A trooper responding to an accident was pinned between vehicles, said the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which confirmed the deaths of the three other people but didn't immediately have further details. One vehicle lane opened about four hours after the first accident.

Trooper Andrew Clouser, 29, was in serious but stable condition at a Toledo hospital Wednesday night, said Ohio patrol Staff Lt. Anne Ralston.

Jason Keyser and John Seewer, Associated Press.

Video from WKYC: Victims of crash identified