Eleven people were injured Thursday afternoon after two accidents occurred within minutes of each other in the westbound lanes of Interstate Highway 88 near Illinois Highway 59, authorities said.
According to Illinois State Police Trooper Doug Whitmore, the first accident happened at noon and involved three cars that were slowing down for traffic when a chain reaction of rear-end collisions occurred.
Five minutes later, a similar accident occurred when three other vehicles, including a tractor trailer, tried to slow for traffic, Whitmore said.
In the second accident, a 1993 Plymouth Voyager driven by Robert Olsson of Addison struck the tractor trailer, Whitmore said. The tractor trailer then struck a 1997 GMC Suburban driven by Kathryn Hove, whose age and residence was unknown, Whitmore said.
Naperville fire officials said they treated five people at the scene. An additional five people from the second accident were taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville, where four of them were treated and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The spokeswoman said the fifth patient, a 17-year-old, was transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The teenager’s condition was not available late Thursday, a Loyola spokesman said.
A sixth person was taken to Mercy Center in Aurora. He was in serious condition and was scheduled to be transferred to Loyola, a Mercy Center spokeswoman said.
