News Story 1

A tractor-trailer containing diesel fuel collided with another trailer early this morning on I-790, leaving two dead and 20 injured.

At 6:45 a.m., two tractor-trailers crashed into one another, causing a destructive chain reaction involving two other tractor-trailers and 14 cars. Adding to the mayhem, one of the trailers was hauling highly volatile diesel fuel. “It was very lucky that it didn’t roll over or dump any fuel or catch fire,” said Sgt. Albert Wei of the local police.

While the driver of the diesel-truck was unharmed, there were two confirmed fatalities and at least 20 injured, four with life-threatening injuries. All of the local fire department’s ambulances were dispatched along with those of four other neighboring towns and a helicopter from Memorial Hospital.

Fire chief Tony Sullivan likened the scene to a war zone when he arrived. There were “bodies laying along the road, people covered in blood sitting next to their cars.” In his 18 and a half years with the fire department, he had never known such carnage. Amid the chaos, police officers couldn’t tell drivers from passengers or who belonged to which car, remarked Wei.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. Traffic meanwhile was temporarily diverted to I-690 until further notice, adding to the already congested rush-hour traffic and backing up cars for nearly three hours.