UPDATE: NCDOT confirmed to WAVY TV that three people died as a result of this crash. The new information is posted at this link.

PEA ISLAND, N.C. (WAVY) – Highway 12 on Pea Island has reopened. However, anyone traveling that stretch of highway should drive with extreme caution as the traffic begins to clear up.

Earlier, all lanes of Highway 12 near the Pea Island Visitor Center on the Outer Banks were closed to traffic Monday due to a serious traffic crash in the area.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation tweeted about the crash at 11:38 a.m. It included an image showing the traffic backup resulting from the road closure. Highway 12 has one lane of travel in each direction.

At 12:50 p.m., the Dare County Sheriff’s Office posted that crews were on scene clearing the roadway and they expected the road to reopen to traffic soon. At 1:44 p.m., they announced that the road had reopened.