At least two people died, and dozens were injured when 18 vehicles plowed into one another during a snowstorm on Interstate 80 in western Pennsylvania.

According to The Associated Press, the crash, which involved nine trucks and nine cars, occurred at 1:40 p.m. in the westbound lanes of the freeway in Clarion Township, Pennsylvania, state police said.

Two people died at the scene, and the third died en route to a hospital, Clarion County Emergency Services director Vern Smith said.

Officials from the Coroner's office, however, told WPXI that the third fatality was due to an unrelated crash in another section of the county that had taken place around the same time.

The 18-vehicle pileup occurred in what the National Weather Service called "hazardous travel conditions" because of snow-covered roads, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

"There was a whiteout. There was very heavy snow at the time with visibility virtually zero," Smith said.

State troopers told the newspaper that one of the dead was a tractor-trailer driver who had left his vehicle to help others; he was later identified as 67-year-old Leonard Mink, a truck driver from Nancy, Kentucky.

The second fatality, 35-year-old Timothy Floravit, was thrown into the steering wheel of his vehicle. He died of his injuries after trying to help his children, who had been ejected from the vehicle, Clarion County Coroner Terry Shaffer said.

"This is a real tragedy that occurred," state Trooper Jamie Levier of the Clarion Barracks said.

Investigators had not yet determined what caused the pileup or if any charges would be filed, the officer added.

The tractor-trailers involved in the crash carried brine, bath products and food, Smith said. Also affected was a United Parcel Service double trailer and a flatbed with pipes; the two remaining tractor trailers, meanwhile, were empty, according to AP.

EMS vehicles from two counties were called into service, and people were taken away from the scene by bus. Westbound lanes of I-80 are expected to remain closed until late Wednesday, state police said.

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