This photo provided by the Chattanooga Police
Department shows police and emergency workers at the scene of a
nine-vehicle wreck on Interstate 75 near Ooltewah, Tenn, a suburb of
Chattanooga. Police in southeastern Tennessee say six people have been
killed in the wreck. (Chattanooga Police Department via AP)
Posted:
Jul 03, 2015 9:30 AM EST
Updated:
Jul 03, 2015 9:31 AM EST
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.
(AP) - The truck driver who authorities say caused a highway accident
outside of Chattanooga last week, killing six, was making his first run
for the trucking company.
Officials from The National Transportation Safety Board told local media on Thursday that 39-year-old Ben Brewer had only started working with London, Ky.-based carrier Cool Runnings Express three days before Brewer's truck slammed into eight stopped cars.
The board's chief investigator Pete Kotowski says it could be 14 months before the investigation into the crash concludes.
The day before the June 25 accident, Brewer was cited for careless driving in Florida. He was supposed to undergo drug and alcohol tests afterward, but did not, officials said.
Kotowski says Brewer has been cooperative in interviews with investigators. No charges have been filed in the incident.
Officials from The National Transportation Safety Board told local media on Thursday that 39-year-old Ben Brewer had only started working with London, Ky.-based carrier Cool Runnings Express three days before Brewer's truck slammed into eight stopped cars.
The board's chief investigator Pete Kotowski says it could be 14 months before the investigation into the crash concludes.
The day before the June 25 accident, Brewer was cited for careless driving in Florida. He was supposed to undergo drug and alcohol tests afterward, but did not, officials said.
Kotowski says Brewer has been cooperative in interviews with investigators. No charges have been filed in the incident.
///---------------///
Police Identify 6 Killed in Crash on Tennessee Highway
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Jun 26, 2015, 10:01 PM ET
This photo provided by the Chattanooga Police
Department shows police and emergency workers at the scene of a
nine-vehicle wreck on Interstate 75 near Ooltewah, Tenn, a suburb of
Chattanooga. Police in southeastern Tennessee say six people have been
killed in the wreck. (Chattanooga Police Department via AP)
Police have released the identities of six people killed on a Tennessee highway when a semi-truck hit eight vehicles that had stopped due to road construction.
Four of the victims of Thursday evening's crash were in one vehicle:
31-year-old Tiffany Watts and 50-year-old Sandra Anderson, both of
Tennessee; along with two children, ages 10 or 11 and 8, both from
California, Chattanooga Police Department spokesman Kyle Miller said in a
news release.
Another victim, 37-year-old Brian Gallaher of Tennessee, was in a second
vehicle, and 36-year-old Jason Ramos was in a third. Police listed
Ramos as being from Georgia and Ohio.
Six people in four other vehicles received injuries that weren't
life-threatening, and another four in one vehicle were uninjured, Miller
said. The semi driver and a passenger in the truck also were uninjured.
The crash happened on Interstate 75 northbound near the suburb of
Ooltewah.
Miller said police are still investigating the cause. Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to investigate.
The northbound lanes of I-75 reopened Friday morning, about 12 hours
after the crash, when crews finished removing debris from the roadway.
Miller said it was the largest number of fatalities the police
department has seen in a single crash in a decade. He said it was also
the most vehicles the police department has seen in a single crash in
that time period.
He said that area of I-75 has had only one other fatality in the past five years.