By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Nine people were transported to area hospitals, two with critical injuries, after a two-vehicle crash on U.S. 31 in Alabaster on Christmas Eve night.

The Alabaster Fire Department and Alabaster Police Department responded to the wreck on U.S. 31 near the Interstate 65 overpass shortly before 7 p.m. on Dec. 24.

AFD Executive Officer Rowdy Tidwell said the accident occurred when one of the vehicles T-boned the other, and said eight victims were transported by ambulance and one victim was transported via helicopter. Two victims suffered serious injuries and two others suffered critical injuries, he said.

The crash forced police to close U.S. 31 for about 45 minutes.