Truck accident in Illinois causes deaths, evacuation
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Federal regulators confirmed Saturday they are reviewing the crash of a semitruck carrying a toxic substance in central Illinois, resulting in “multiple fatalities” and dangerous air conditions that prompted the evacuation of area residents.
Jennifer Gabris, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board, said the agency is inves- tigating the incident that occurred near Teutopolis.
Firefighters, police and emergency respond- ers who converged on the scene Friday were still on site Saturday trying to contain the cloud of anhydrous ammonia emanating from the tanker.
“We have a lot of brave firemen, EMT, hazmat specialists, police officers that are working on this scene as we speak,” Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns said at a Saturday news conference.
Authorities did not say exactly how many people were killed or injured.
“I am sorry to say that we do have multiple fatalities,” Kuhns said. “And I’m sorry to say I don’t have that exact number for you.”
Illinois State Police spokesperson Melaney Arnold said authorities initially thought there were five fatalities, but that turned out to be a premature determination amid the early confusion.
The accident caused “a large plume, cloud of anhydrous ammonia on the roadway that caused terribly dangerous air conditions in the northeast area of Teutopolis,” Kuhns said. “Because of these conditions, the emergency responders had to wait. They had to mitigate the conditions before they could really get to work on it, and it was a fairly large area.”
Although not strong, crews working overnight struggled against shifting wind.
“The wind changed three or four different times on us,” said Tim McMahon, chief of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District. “That’s another reason we got crews out in different places, reporting back on which way the wind’s going.”
The accident, which involved “multiple” vehicles including the tanker, happened about a halfmile east of Teutopolis on U.S. Highway 40 on Friday at about 9:25 p.m., Illinois State Police said in an emailed statement.
McMahon said the tanker began leaking after rolling over in a ditch. He said authorities are still preventing cars from driving in that area. Residents within a one-mile radius of the spill — largely on the east end of Teutopolis — were evacuated. The town of 1,600 people is about 110 miles northeast of St. Louis.
Kuhns said he did not have information on whether the deaths were the result of the crash itself or the chemical leak. But he said that “the accident scene was large.”