Cheyenne Avenue and Commerce Street in North Las Vegas reopened early Sunday, nearly 12 hours after a motorist blew through a red light and caused “a mass casualty traffic collision” that killed nine people, police said.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada announced the reopening about 1:30 a.m.
The North Las Vegas Police Department had not provided another update on what is the deadliest crash on valley roads in recent history, after updating the number of fatalities late Saturday. But the National Transportation Safety Board announced in a tweet that it plans to investigate the crash.
Police said the six-vehicle crash, reported about 3 p.m. Saturday, occurred when a motorist in a Dodge Challenger, who was speeding northbound on Commerce Street, ran a red light at West Cheyenne Avenue and hit five vehicles. Most ended up in a vacant lot at the northeast corner of the intersection.
That motorist and his passenger died, as did seven other people from the other vehicles, police spokesman Alexander Cuevas said.
One of the two people taken to University Medical Center survived, but suffered life-threatening injuries, Cuevas said.
Fifteen people in total were involved, police said.
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SOURCE: The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ricardo Torres-Cortez and David Wilson
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