1 fatality confirmed by state police in multi-vehicle crash on Dan Ryan Expressway early Sunday; SB lanes reopened

CHICAGO — All lanes on the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway have been reopened after they were closed for several hours at 87th Street early Sunday morning following a multi-vehicle fatal crash.

Late Sunday morning, Illinois State Police confirmed one fatality in the crash. Larry Merritt, Chicago Fire Department deputy spokesman, told WGN News that CFD paramedics took a total of seven people to the hospital, four in critical condition.

According to ISP, troopers responded to the crash location around 3:15 a.m. Sunday to the report of a fatal three-vehicle crash. All southbound lanes on the Dan Ryan Expressway were closed at the crash scene, with traffic being diverted off the expressway at 87th St., resulting in significant back-ups.

All lanes were reopened just after 9 a.m. Sunday, ISP says.

ISP has not yet released any details on how the chain-reaction crash may have started. It also looked like as many as six vehicles may have been involved in the crash, though so far ISP has said only that it received a report of a three-vehicle crash.

The top half of one car appeared to be sliced right off, a semi-truck lost a tire and had back-end damage, and at least two other cars had severe damage with deployed airbags.