The incident occurred on the two-lane Highway 26 in George County, Trooper Cal Robertson of the Mississippi Highway Patrol told CNN on Tuesday. The washout was likely related to the rain from Hurricane Ida, he said.
Seven vehicles went into the hole created by the washout, according to Robertson. It’s about 50 feet in length and 20 feet deep, he said.
“I’ve never seen anything in my 23 years in law enforcement like this,” he said.
Three of those injured were in critical condition, he added.
Highway 26 is a main artery between Mississippi and Louisiana, the George County Sheriff’s Office told CNN.
Mississippi has been battered by torrential rain from Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Sunday. As of 10 p.m. Monday, the system was about 80 miles north northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, as a tropical depression and heading toward Tennessee, according to the National Hurricane Center.
More than 58,000 people in Mississippi remain without power due to the storm, according to PowerOutage.US.
Please check back for updates on this breaking news story.