A Montpelier woman died from injuries sustained in a multi-vehicle crash northbound I-95 at the 84-mile marker in Henrico County at 2:51 a.m. on Sunday.
According to Virginia State Police, troopers at the scene found seven cars involved in a chain reaction-style crash.
The first crash occurred when a 2013 Jeep Wrangler ran off the road northbound and hit the guardrail, spinning back into the travel lane.
A secondary, fender bender-style crash, then occurred when a 2019 Toyota Camry and a 2021 Kia Forte slowed to avoid the Jeep and rear-ended one another.
The driver of the Jeep, Kia and Toyota then exited their vehicles and stood in the roadway.
At this time a third crash occurred when a 2010 Ford Focus hit the Jeep and the Kia Forte in an attempt to avoid the collision.
A fourth crash then occurred when a 2009 Honda Accord trying to avoid the scene struck the Focus in a T-bone style crash, sending a Hyundai Elantra into the rear of the Jeep, striking the driver of the Elantra, 28-year-old Clair Elizabeth Wenzel, from Montpelier, and causing her to die instantly.
A final crash occurred when a Mazda CX5 comes through the scene and could not avoid collision with the Honda Accord.
Seven people were transported to the hospital with varying degrees of injury.
This crash remains under investigation with the assistance of the Virginia State Police Richmond Division Crash Reconstruction Team.
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Chris Graham
