injures Michigan driver
Huntington County, IN- Yesterday afternoon at approximately 3:15pm, troopers from the Fort Wayne Post responded to a reported semi-crash on I-69 near the 290-mile marker in Huntington County.
Upon arrival troopers found two vehicles; a semi-tractor/trailer and a Dodge Ram pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer, both with heavy damage and rolled over on their sides blocking both northbound lanes of travel. The driver of the semi-tractor/trailer was trapped inside and injured, and had to be extricated from the wreckage by Markle Fire Department. Once out of the vehicle, he was tended to by Parkview EMS personnel and then transported to an area Fort Wayne hospital with unknown injuries. The driver of the Dodge pickup truck was reported as not needing medical attention.
The preliminary investigation found that prior to the crash the 2018 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer, driven by Benjamin Peters, 46, of Decatur, Tennessee, was traveling northbound in the left lane.
The 2013 Volvo semi-tractor/trailer, operated by Ghani Hussein Al-Awad, 60, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, also traveling northbound in the left lane, was approaching Peters’ vehicle at a high rate of speed.
Peters reportedly observed the semi approaching quickly and was in the process of a changing lanes from left to right, when Al-Awad’s semi-tractor crashed into the rear of Peters’ flatbed trailer. The impact caused both vehicles to overturn in the roadway blocking both northbound lanes of travel.
During the investigation both northbound and southbound lanes of travel were restricted at times due to the crash scene and debris field. Lane closures in both directions had to be shut down to manage the investigation safely causing lengthy backups. Northbound traffic was shutdown for the whole two and a half hours of cleanup, which required northbound traffic to be detoured off the interstate at US224 Markle exit.
Numerous troopers from the Fort Wayne Post were on scene managing the crash investigation. They were assisted by ISP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, Huntington County Sheriff’s Department, Markle Fire Department, Parkview EMS, and A-Plus Towing service.
This remains an ongoing investigation. There is no further information to release at this time.
