TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio authorities say it will take days to clean up a massive traffic pileup that left three people dead after a winter storm swept through the Midwest and the Northeast.

At least 40 vehicles were caught up in a series of crashes Wednesday that stretched across a 2-mile section of the Ohio Turnpike.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a truck driver from Illinois and two women from Ohio and Indiana died in the accidents.

A trooper who was pinned between two vehicles during the crashes remained in serious but stable condition Thursday.

Turnpike officials say the road’s eastbound lanes are still closed where the pileup happened between Toledo and Cleveland.

The winter storm dumped over 2 feet of snow on parts of northern New England.