Trucker hauling fireworks nods off, crashes in Chicago suburbs
BERKELEY, Ill. – A semi-truck carrying fireworks crashed and burst into flames Friday in a Chicago suburb when the driver fell asleep, authorities said.
The 40-year-old driver crashed on the Tri-State Tollway in Berkeley, Illinois, at about 3:40 a.m. CDT, Illiniois State Police Master Sgt. Brian McKinney told the Chicago Tribune.
McKinney said the driver fell asleep, hit the right concrete barrier and then veered across all lanes, where the truck slammed into a center median, the newspaper reported. The impact damaged the vehicle’s gas tank and caused the truck to become “engulfed” in flames, according to the Tribune.
“The fireworks in there did go off,” McKinney told the newspaper. “It wasn’t like the Fourth of July.”
The driver was able to exit the truck safely, WLS reported. According to the Illinois State Police, the man was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the television station reported.
A bridge over the highway was closed for several hours as a precaution against possible structural damage, the Tribune reported. The highway was reopened by Friday afternoon.
It wasn’t clear how many explosives or what type was in the truck at the time, the Tribune reported. The driver was hauling the fireworks to Wisconsin, the newspaper reported.
