Detroit, MI : Wrong-way driver crash leaves 3 dead, 2 injured in downtown Detroit on Wednesday, January 4th 2017

Three people are dead and two clinging to life after a wrong-way driver caused a crash early Wednesday morning on I-75 in Detroit that closed the freeway for several hours, according to the Michigan State Police.

Southbound I-75 near I-94 reopened at about 7:45 a.m. after backing up rush-hour traffic for hours during the investigation of the fiery crash at about 3:45 a.m., according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Among those who died was Leeanna Custard, 34, of New Baltimore, who drove her 2013 Chevrolet Malibu the wrong way on southbound I-75, a State Police news release said. It did not indicate whether alcohol was a factor in the crash.

The Malibu struck a 2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette, killing passengers Karl Hawkins, 23, of Pontiac and Elijah Holden, 21, of Auburn Hills, while critically injuring its driver, a 22-year-old Pontiac man and another passenger, a 24-year-old man also from Pontiac, according to State Police. The two injured men were not identified.

Police said the crash was caused by Custard driving the wrong way driver on the freeway.It was the second fatal, fiery crash in two days in metro Detroit involving a vehicle driving the wrong way. On Tuesday morning, a westbound Chevrolet Trailblazer on M-59, near the former Silverdome site in Pontiac, crossed the median and collided with eastbound Cadillac and Chrysler vehicles before catching fire, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

In addition, a 36-year-old Detroit woman Friday drove the wrong way on southbound I-75 for 13 miles before police pulled her over and arrested her near 13 Mile Road in Royal Oak at about 3 a.m., according to State Police.

Asked about what could be done to prevent motorists from entering highways in the wrong direction, Michigan State Police spokesman Lt. Mike Shaw said Wednesday that the department is unsure whether different signage or other steps might help. The incidence of such crashes is relatively rare but they often are deadly due to the combined speeds of the opposing vehicles, according to safety experts.

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Wrong-way driver crash leaves 3 dead, 2 injured in downtown Detroit