The truck rear-ended the other vehicles, which caught fire after gas tanks erupted. Four people died and two others were in critical condition. Two people were not hurt.

"It was after the accident, the cars were already stopped before they caught fire," explained Trooper Dominick Carello. "Looks like fuel fires to me. One car caught fire and it caught the other one on fire, a black one that was on fire, the black one that was up here started to catch fire and it was put out by fire extinguishers, I believe."

According to the Associated Press, the highway patrol said the driver of one of the cars was 57-year-old Beverly Garrett. She was airlifted to University Hospital in Columbia, where she was pronounced dead. Her three passengers were pronounced dead at the scene and identified as 55-year-old Anita Gibbs, 94-year-old Beulah Hunter and 81-year-old Eloise Jeans. Authorities said semitrailer driver George Albright of Clarksville, Tennessee, failed to slow for traffic that had slowed for congestion. The truck crashed into seven other vehicles, crossed the median and westbound lanes, and came to rest on an embankment. Four others were injured in the accident, one seriously.

On Friday, the Callaway County prosecuting attorney charged the truckdriver with four counts of involuntary manslaughter. The highway patrolsaid its investigation of the deadly crash will run well into next week.