CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A portion of Interstate 485 in south Charlotte was shut down Tuesday morning after a woman was killed in a crash, according to officials.
The wreck happened around 10:30 a.m. on the outer loop of I-485 under the Providence Road Bridge.
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Officials told Channel 9 a woman was killed and two others were seriously hurt in the crash, which closed the outer loop lanes for hours.
#BREAKING: A devastating fatal crash has OL I-485 BLOCKED at providence Rd. Traffic is being forced up the ramp onto Providence Rd. and down the other side. Updates coming up at noon on @wsoctv #cltraffic #clttraffic #clt pic.twitter.com/ZfYcrkQddR
— Traffic Team 9 (@TrafficTeam9) October 22, 2019
Channel 9 crews could see two vehicles, a white Honda Pilot and a gold sedan, badly damaged.
It's unclear what caused the crash but a witness told Eyewitness News he was driving a flatbed truck directly behind the Honda on I-485 when suddenly the gold car became airborne from the Providence Road Bridge and landed on the hood of an SUV, causing it to flip onto its roof.
"Airborne. Like a movie. Literally, like a movie. I couldn't believe what I was seeing," witness Danny Gurley said. "I was like 'Oh my God,' cause there was gas and oil everywhere. It just looked like a bomb went off."
UPDATE @wsoctv on fatal 485 crash. It appears the car that caused the crash drove off Providence Rd. along the barrier wall of the over pass, went down the embankment, and crashed onto 485 outer. @TrafficTeam9 pic.twitter.com/ZfL7J3u5dn
— Blaine Tolison (@BTolisonWSOC9) October 22, 2019
The woman who was driving the car was pronounced dead at the scene, while the two people in the SUV were rushed to the hospital.
Witnesses told Channel 9 they believe the woman who was killed had some kind of medical emergency.
Gurley recorded video on his cellphone as he and others rushed to help the victims. He helped pull a man and a woman from the mangled SUV.
(Watch Gurley's video below)
In the video, the man trapped inside can be heard asking for rescuers to help his wife first.
The couple was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.
Chris Sims also stopped to help.
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"It was a little hectic," Sims said. "Adrenaline flowing. Not even thinking about the danger of the car on fire. Just trying to get the people out and make sure everyone is OK."
The interstate reopened just before 2 p.m.
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