Two people are dead and seven others are hurt after a five car pileup on the interstate near St. Cloud. It happened just after 7:30 pm Sunday in the westbound lanes of I-94, one mile west of the Opportunity Drive exit near Clearwater. The State Patrol says traffic was backed up on the freeway Sunday night because a car was on fire on the shoulder of the road. That’s when, officials say, a semitrailer came in too fast and rear-ended a car, causing a chain reaction crash among five vehicles.

The driver and passenger of the second car to get hit are both dead. The driver has been identified as 78-year-old Thomas Williams of Sandwich, Illinois and the passenger was 61-year-old Sophie Mitzel. A second passenger of that vehicle, 61-year-old Patricia Wanner is in critical condition. The driver of the first car hit, 22-year-old Korene Schmitz of St. Cloud, is also in critical condition. The driver of the semi, 56-year-old David Dompleing of Orland Park, Illinois, was not hurt.