Colorado pileup: 21-vehicle crash snarls traffic on Interstate 70 near Colorado-Kansas state line

A massive pileup involving nine tractor-trailers and 12 passenger vehicle closed Interstate 70 near the Colorado-Kansas state line on Wednesday, according to Colorado State Patrol.

Two people suffered minor injuries, a spokesperson for Colorado State Patrol told FOX 35.

Photos shared by state patrols showed what appeared to be a sedan heavily damaged and partially beneath one of the semi trucks, which collided with another semi. Another photo showed one semi's cargo hold heavily damaged with the sides falling away from the truck, while the back end of another truck was also heavily damaged.

As of Thursday morning, Colorado State Patrol said troopers were still working to clear the freeway in order to reopen, though when that would happen was not immediately known.

A tweet from Colorado State Patrol Troop 3D showed several vehicles off to the side of the freeway facing multiple directions in what was reported at near white-out conditions amid a snow storm. 

"Stay away - this is going to take a while," the account said in its tweet.

Thursday afternoon, Colorado State Patrol said one eastbound lane has reopened, and that crews were still on the scene managing cleanup efforts. One challenge was that two semi-trailers needed to offload before they could be removed from the scene. 

This story was reported from WOFL-TV FOX 35 in Orlando, Florida