Oklahoma ? Nine people died Friday when a tractor-trailer slammed into a line of cars stopped by an earlier accident on a northeast Oklahoma turnpike, leaving twisted metal and debris strewn on the highway and stranding miles of traffic in scorching heat.

The final victim was found hours after the crash when tow trucks were finally able to dislodge the rig from a car it had crushed.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. George Brown said eastbound traffic was stopped about 1 p.m. on the Will Rogers Turnpike northeast of Miami because of an earlier crash when the big rig slammed into at least three cars, which then crashed into more vehicles.

“It looks like a war zone,” he said. “There’s mangled metal everywhere. There’s debris, fluids, dead bodies.”

The turnpike’s eastbound lanes were closed for hours after the accident, which occurred near the border with Missouri and Kansas.