One dead, five injured in I-40 wreck

A massive "chain reaction" traffic accident on Interstate 40 in Wilson County claimed one life and left two more motorists in critical condition late Sunday afternoon and left five more motorists injured.
Tennessee Highway Patrol and Wilson Emergency Management Agency officials said the six car pileup happened after an earlier accident on Interstate 40 caused traffic to back up.
The original accident occurred closer to the Mt. Juliet Road interchange, slowing traffic until the chain reaction style event happened about one mile east of the Highway 109 interchange.
In addition to the one fatality, two more motorists were transported by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in critical condition.
Two more people were transported by ambulance to nearby Summit Medical Center and a third taken to University Medical Center in Lebanon.
WEMA Public Information Officer Adrian McNabb said an additional 10 motorists or passengers refused treatment at the scene. Altogether, 16 people were involved in the six car crash.
The accident shut down Interstate 40 until almost 8:30 p.m. Lifeflight landed on the interstate itself to transport the critical victims.
Officials did not reveal the names of any of the victims at press time Sunday.
In addition to the Sunday accident, a 4-year-old child was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital after sustaining injuries in a car accident Saturday afternoon.
Wilson Emergency Management Agencies and the Tennessee Highway Patrol answered the call and arrived on scene.
"We think that the child was somehow operating the vehicle by sitting on the driver's lap when the car crashed into a wall," McNabb said. The car was traveling west near the Lankford Farms area when the accident occurred.
THP is investigating both accidents.