Northbound traffic on Interstate 75 was slowed for nearly two hours this morning after a two-vehicle accident caused a second, more serious accident, police said.

Emergency personnel were working an accident between 8 and 8:30 a.m. involving a white Chrysler Sebring and a black GMC pickup when the driver of a Honda Civic lost control of her vehicle while viewing the accident, Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary said in a news release.

The Civic went sideways in its lane and was struck by a bulk tanker. It was hit a second time by a dump truck and the bulk tanker before it was thrown to the side of the interstate.

Capt. Charles Patton of the Chattanooga Fire Department observed the second accident.

“We thought she was dead,” Capt. Patton said, according to the news release. Firefighters rushed to the Civic after it stopped on the side of the highway and were able to free the driver through her passenger side door.

The driver of the Civic was not seriously injured, Sgt. Weary said. As a precaution, she was taken to an area hospital for observation. The driver of the Sebring involved in the first accident was also taken to the hospital for injuries she sustained in that accident.

Traffic northbound on I-75 was slowed for nearly two hours but Tennessee Department of Transportation officials were able to keep traffic flowing until all involved vehicles could be removed, Sgt. Weary said.

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