Interstate pileup kills two in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Police in New Orleans say a 40-car pileup on an interstate highway left two people dead, sent 22 to hospitals and shut down the highway in both directions.

Authorities said the accident happened shortly before 5 a.m. Thursday in eastern New Orleans on Interstate 10, WDSU-TV, New Orleans, reported.

Police said the accident occurred in the westbound lanes.

Twenty-two people were taken to local hospitals with minor to critical injuries, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

Thirty-seven other people with minor injuries refused treatment at the scene, police spokesman Garry Flot said.

The cause of the pileup is under investigation.