Two people were taken to the hospital and several others were evaluated by paramedics after a chain-reaction rear-end crash involving five cars on Route 41 in Gurnee Thursday afternoon.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 1:30 p.m. Thursday to Route 41 and Delany Road in Gurnee for a multiple vehicle crash.
Police officers and firefighter/paramedics arrived to find a five-vehicle pileup in the northbound lanes of Route 41 just east of Delany Road.
The vehicles involved, from back to front, were a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, a Toyota RAV4 SUV, a Honda CR-V SUV, a Toyota Camry sedan and a MINI Cooper.
Paramedics evaluated a total of eight people at the scene.
The two occupants in the Toyota RAV4 were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, Gurnee Battalion Fire Chief Nick Perry said.
The other six people refused to be transported to the hospital, Perry added.
The two vehicles in the rear of the pileup – the Chevrolet Silverado and Toyota RAV4 –appeared to have the heaviest damage from the bunch.
It appears the initial collision into the rear of the RAV4 caused a chain-reaction crash with the other three vehicles.
All five vehicles were in the same lane.
Multiple tow trucks with Lake County Towing responded to the scene to tow some of the vehicles and help clean up the debris.
All lanes of northbound Route 41, except the far right turn lane, were temporarily closed while crews tended to the pileup.
The incident was cleared up at around 2:15 p.m.
The Gurnee Police Department is investigating the crash. It was not immediately clear what caused the first collision and if any citations were issued.