The driver of the utility truck failed to slow down as the truck approached stopped traffic. It struck several vehicles, causing a chain reaction of crashes.
Benson, N.C. —
Interstate 40 reopened near McGee’s Crossroads in Johnston County Wednesday evening, following a fatal multi-vehicle crash on Wednesday afternoon.
Sky 5 flew over the scene at about 4 p.m. and showed that one of the westbound lanes had reopened. The remainder of the road reopened at about 7:15 p.m.
According to authorities, three people were killed in the fiery crash, which occurred just after 12 p.m. in the eastbound lanes. Emergency crews had to close the westbound lanes to access the scene. The crash involved a tractor-trailer and two passenger cars near mile marker 319, authorities said. Authorities said the names of the victims are being withheld until next of kin can be notified.
The crash started as a crash with one car in the median, authorities said. While traffic was slowing down, several vehicles collided, including a 10-wheeled lumber truck, a tractor trailer and as many as six other cars.
The lumber truck ended up in a ravine.
Charges are expected to be filed, troopers said.
The United States has one of the deadliest roads in the world with more than 40,000 people getting killed and millions injured every year.
==============================
3 dead, multiple people injured in wreck that closed I-40 in Johnston County
By Thomasi McDonald
tmcdonald@newsobserver.com
August 29, 2018
Three people died and multiple people were injured in a wreck on Interstate 40 in Johnston County on Wednesday, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
The crash, which happened just after noon near exit 319, involved nine vehicles, including a tractor-trailer and a flatbed truck that was hauling lumber, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Michael Baker.
State troopers were nearby investigating a separate crash in the eastbound lanes of the interstate when they were alerted about the multi-vehicle accident.
Baker said the driver of the utility truck failed to slow down as the truck approached stopped traffic. It struck several vehicles, causing a chain reaction of crashes.
“I do not have an accurate count of how many injuries at this time,” Baker wrote in an email to The News & Observer late Wednesday afternoon.
Baker said just before 4 p.m. Wednesday that two people had died. He told The News & Observer around 8:45 p.m. that a third person was dead.
I-40 was closed in both directions for hours after the crash.
The DOT advised motorists to find an alternate route during the afternoon commute.