CLENDENIN, W.Va. — A 25-year DOH engineer was killed Tuesday when the state truck he was riding in on Interstate 79 south of Clendenin was T-boned by an SUV being driven by a Kanawha County woman, who also died, authorities said.
Glenn F. Lough, 47, of Fraziers Bottom, and two other workers were heading back to the DOH’s Division 1 offices in Charleston at around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday when an SUV, driven by Edna Martin Gallian, 80, of Clendenin, came from the northbound lanes and slammed into the southbound DOH vehicle.
Given the speed of both vehicles, the DOH driver would have had little time to react, Kanawha County Sheriff’s Dept. Sgt. Brian Humphreys said.
“When you’re going around 140 miles an hour (combined) it’s very difficult for anybody to be able to adjust their own vehicle to account from where the oncoming car may be coming from,” Humphreys said. “The last thing you’re worrying about when you’re coming down the highway is a car coming in the opposite direction.”
Investigators don’t know yet what caused Gallian, a longtime realtor in the Kanawha Valley, to lose control of her vehicle, Humphreys said.
“Regardless of age it could be a medical condition. At any point, anybody, could be subject to something that incapacitates them while they’re driving, something unexpected,” he said. “That may be revealed with help from the state Medical Examiner’s Office but it may not be.”
The two other DOH workers, in the Ford Expedition with Lough, were injured in the collision and were still hospitalized Wednesday.
State DOH spokesman Brent Walker called Lough “a valuable team member.” He had performed several duties for the DOH during his career.
Walker called the deadly crash “an awful situation” for those who knew both victims.
“We’ve just turned our attention to the family and to the coworkers,” he said.
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UPDATE: 6/28/17 @ 11:10 a.m.
KANAWHA
COUNTY, WV (WOWK) - According to the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, a
Honda Pilot traveling north crossed the median and struck a southbound
Ford Expedition in a T-bone style crash around 4:00 p.m. yesterday near
mile marker 16 on I-79. The Ford SUV was a WV DOH vehicle.
The
driver of the Honda, Edna Martin Gallian, 80, of Clendenin, WV, and a
passenger in the Ford, Glenn F. Lough, 47, of Fraziers Bottom, WV were
killed in the crash.
The driver of the Ford and another passenger
in that vehicle were injured in the crash. A third vehicle was damaged
by debris from the crash, but no one in that vehicle was injured.
The
highway was closed for several hours during the investigation and
cleanup. There were no other occupants in the Honda. The Sheriff’s
Office still does not know the reason the vehicle crossed the median.
The investigation is being handled by a crash reconstruction expert with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATE: 6/27/17 @ 8:40 p.m.
KANAWHA
COUNTY, WV (WOWK) - Interstate 79 southbound at mile marker 16 south of
the Clendenin exit has reopened following a deadly crash that killed
two people, including a DOH worker, and injured 2 others.
ORIGINAL: 6/27/17 @ 5:45 p.m.
KANAWHA
COUNTY, WV (WOWK) - Two people, including a DOH worker, were killed
Tuesday afternoon following a double fatal car crash on Interstate 79.
The
accident occurred just after 4 p.m. on Interstate 79 southbound at mile
marker 15 in between the Elkview and Clendenin exits.
According
to Chuck Runyon, Chief of Emergency Operations for the WV Department of
Transportation, a vehicle was driving northbound when it crossed the
median, drove into the southbound lanes and struck a DOH truck.
One
person in the vehicle and one person in the DOH truck were killed in
the crash. Two other people received non-life threatening injuries and
were transported to the hospital.
The WV Department of Highways says that traffic is being diverted off of Interstate 79 at exit 19 onto US Route 119.
We have a crew at the scene, and will provide more information as soon as we receive it.
