Fiery Fuel Tanker Crash On Atlanta Interstate Kills 2

Two people have died in a multivehicle accident involving a tractor-trailer that sparked a large fire which spread across all northbound lanes of an Atlanta-area interstate on Saturday morning, authorities said.

Traffic on Interstate 85 near the Gwinnett-DeKalb county border was temporarily shut down, and drivers were evacuated from their vehicles.

Flames from the crash rose 30 feet high, and some drivers were stuck over two hours while emergency responders worked to control the blaze, reported NBC affiliate WXIA in Atlanta.

Motorist Zach Rigg, 26, of Atlanta, captured cellphone video of the scene as he drove by before the highway was closed. He said first responders directed traffic to the center of the roadway as flames scorched the pavement.

"You see this big thick black cloud of smoke in the air, and you know its not good," he said. "I rolled down the window [and] you could feel the heat. That’s how hot it was."