Icy roads in South blamed for 5 traffic deaths

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Icy roads are blamed for five traffic deaths across three southern states.

The Louisiana State Police says one person was killed in an accident early today in Iberville Parish in southern Louisiana involving three 18-wheelers and a pickup truck. Another driver was killed in western Louisiana when his car ran off a highway.

In Mississippi, the Highway Patrol said a man and a woman died in separate wrecks Thursday on ice patches on Interstate 10. Another woman was killed when her SUV slid on an icy bridge and hit an oncoming log truck.

Dozens of schools, businesses and government offices in north Alabama were opening late.

State government offices were closed in 55 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes

Forecasters say temperatures should rise above freezing later in the day.