GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — An accident followed by another brought northbound U.S. 131 traffic to a halt Sunday morning.
At 7:15 a.m. Sunday, the Grand Rapids Police Department responded to a report of a two-car crash on northbound 131 near the Wealthy Street exit ramp. Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered that a vehicle had rolled over and another was engulfed in flames.
The occupants were safely removed from the vehicles and the Grand Rapids Fire Department extinguished the fire. While securing the scene, a second two-car crash occurred nearby, prompting the closure of northbound 131 at Martin Luther King Jr. Street SE.
The investigation revealed that both vehicles involved in the first crash were traveling northbound on 131 when an SUV struck a smaller sedan in the rear, causing the SUV to overturn and the sedan to catch fire. The driver of the sedan sustained minor injuries and was transported to the hospital where no condition report was available later Sunday.
The SUV was occupied by five people, including a 1-year-old child. Two occupants were transported to the hospital where no condition reports were available later Sunday. The child was not injured.
The SUV driver was taken into custody for suspected drunken driving.
Officers said both alcohol and speed were believed to be factors in the first crash.
There were no reported injuries in the second two-car crash.
Northbound 131 reopened to traffic just before 9 a.m. Sunday.
