I-80 westbound closed after multi-vehicle crash in Council Bluffs

At this hour, I-80 in Iowa remains closed going westbound near Council Bluffs. It was closed in both directions for nearly 5 hours. First responders are working *** crash that involved multiple cars and multiple semis. KATV News Watch 7’s Eddie Messel has been by the scene all night. He joins us live with what we’ve learned so far, Eddie. Yes, Bill Quisi, things are *** lot different here than they were *** few hours ago where it was *** parking lot here along I-80. Again, like you said, eastbound lanes now opening back up. We just saw *** truck drive by as we speak now. I did speak with two drivers, two people who were along I-80 today during the time of that crash, one of them narrowly escaping, being in the middle of that pileup. *** massive pileup Thursday evening left hundreds of people stuck and turned I-80 in Council Bluffs into *** parking lot. Steve Bell was passing the crash on his way home and says he saw multiple cars and semis involved. I trucks on the other side of the road on the westbound lane were literally jackknifed. Sideways and there were several of them pancaked together, like 2 or 3 of them. Another driver on the road, Aiden Long, had just left work and was driving along the interstate when he says he saw *** semi-actively losing control. His trailer was in both lanes. I had managed to enter the shoulder. I tapped the guard rail *** little bit, and then I had stopped kind of behind his trailer and then there was *** green semi that was just barreling towards me. He had swerved off to left one of the ditch and struck another semi. Long says by the time he saw the green semi coming, he was already in the ditch. All I could constantly hear was just *** lot of. *** lot of banging and crashing and it was terrifying. Long says he was able to get out of his SUV and help people stuck in the pileup get out of their cars and trucks. He says some of those people told him how grateful they were to still be alive. Still pretty shaken up. I still am trying to process everything that happened. I mean, the roads were just so, so, so bad. In *** scary moment that saw his life flash before his eyes. Long says he’s also grateful to still be here. I for sure have someone watching over me in some way, shape, or form, because I got really lucky there. Now Long tells me that he was not the only person to get out of his SUV today and help those who needed it in this pile up, and he says he’s very appreciative to everyone who did what they could to help today. Long also says that he wants to remind everyone to stay safe and account. For these road conditions now we are waiting to hear more about the injuries from this crash. We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more here throughout the week on KETV reporting live on I-80 ESL KETV News Watch 7. Just *** terrifying situation all around. Let’s hope there’s no injuries, Eddie. Thank you.