Two killed after semi trucks crash on I-65 near Lafayette

Two killed after semi trucks crash on I-65 near Lafayette


TIPPECANOE COUNTY – Two people died in a crash involving multiple semi trucks on I-65 southbound near Lafayette. According to Indiana State Police, a semi truck was parked alongside the road and outside the vehicle because it was disabled. A second semi had pulled ahead of the truck so that the disabled vehicle’s trailer could be transferred.

The drivers of both trucks were next to the road getting ready to make the transfer. One of the men was wearing a reflective vest as they worked near mile marker 177. Around 7:20 a.m., another semi approached. State police said the driver didn’t see the other semi trucks and failed to get into the left lane. That truck hit the disabled trailer parked on the shoulder, striking both men as they were disconnecting it. The semi then hit both trucks on the outer shoulder before veering right and going off the road. Two of the trucks caught fire.

The men who were working to disconnect the trailer were killed. State police released their identities Monday afternoon: Marek Dziudek, 44, Downers Grove, Ill., and Tadeusz Wojtaszek, 31, Romeoville, Ill. The driver of the semi that hit them, Plata Albertico, 42, Berwyn, Ill., was not injured.

All lanes of southbound I-65 were closed for several hours, although one lane reopened around 10:30 a.m.
State police said all vehicles and trailers involved in the crash were damaged.

 

More info (apparently there was fog?):

Both semi drivers were outside of their vehicles and the man who was disconnecting the trailer from the disabled vehicle was wearing a reflective vest. The trailer was parked near the fog line on the shoulder.

A 42-year-old driver from Illinois, identified as Plata Albertico, was driving a 2004 Freightliner for UPS (owned by Transcorr LLC based in Indianapolis) southbound on I-65 but failed to move into the left lane as he approached the parked vehicles. Albertico's box truck hit the disabled semi trailer parked on the shoulder, hitting both drivers as they were disconnecting the trailer. He then struck both Freightliners parked on the outer shoulder before coming to rest down in the ditch on the west side of the interstate.

another source:

A disabled white Freightliner semi hauling a trailer loaded with a rail container was parked on the southbound shoulder of the interstate. The driver was standing outside the vehicle.

“The vehicle did have its triangles out,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Kim Riley said. “The trailer’s flashers were not working because they had unhooked all of the lights and were getting ready to pull the truck out.”

A 1998 red Freightliner from F&S was parked in front of the white truck, and the two drivers were working to unhitch the trailer and attach it to the red tractor, according to Indiana State Police.

Both drivers were standing outside their vehicles; one was wearing a reflective vest, police said.

The driver of a southbound white 2004 Freightliner hauling a box trailer apparently didn’t notice the stopped trucks. His truck clipped the back of the white trailer, then hit the two drivers who were working beside the rig.

The southbound truck, hauling for UPS, was driven by Plata Albertico, 42, of Berwyn, Ill., according to Master Trooper Bill Brooks of the Indiana State Police.

The impact knocked one of the men onto the hitch area of the red tractor. He died there.

The other driver was found lying beside the white rig. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died, Riley said at the scene.

Meanwhile, the truck that struck the rig traveled about 30 yards south of the crash and veered off the road and into a ditch, where it caught fire. Albertico was not injured, Riley said. He was taken to the hospital to be checked out, which is standard procedure.

Battle Ground firefighters doused the rig that was in the ditch, as well as the red tractor, which also caught fire.
Southbound lanes of I-65 were closed for more than two hours. One lane was intermittently opened around 9:40 a.m., but Riley expected that the southbound lanes would be restricted at least until the early afternoon.
Southbound traffic was diverted from the Interstate at Indiana 18 about 11 miles north of the crash.