CARROLL COUNTY, Va. — Authorities said three people are dead and more than 25 injured after a 95-vehicle pileup Sunday on I-77 South in Southwest Virginia near the North Carolina line.

State police said a series of wrecks began around 1:15 p.m. in the southbound lanes in the area of Fancy Gap Mountain in southwest Virginia. There was heavy fog at the time.

The southbound and northbound lanes of I-77 were closed at the 6 mile marker until shortly after 11:45 p.m.

The names of the victims have not been released.

“There was an incident up in the front, whether it was another accident or another driver stopped… then the other drivers couldn’t stop in time,” said Sgt. Michael Conroy with the Virgina State Police

Drivers said they could barely see anything at all when the chain reaction collisions started.

“Cars just started hitting each other… all you could hear was bam bam bam,” Charlotte resident Linda Alexander. “All you could hear was explosions.”

Authorities said the victims were taken to various hospitals including Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Emergency crews said they spent hours clearing the scene.

“The majority of these accidents were caused by people going too fast for the conditions,” Conroy said.