12-26-12 Houston, TX- Fatal tanker rollover and fire

Northbound U.S. 59 has reopened after a fatal rollover accident during the morning rush hour closed all main lanes.
According to Houston TranStar, the freeway reopened at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Meanwhile, another driver is dead and two main lanes of northbound Eastex Freeway near Will Clayton remained closed at midday after his tanker truck overturned in a fiery crash.
TranStar reported that the Eastex crash was first called in at 4:19 a.m. and only one vehicle was involved. See TranStar's interactive map of Houston road conditions here. http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/layers/layers.aspx?cam=True
At 6:35 a.m., a two-vehicle accident northbound on U.S. 59 shut all main lanes in the southwest stretch near Bissonnet, TranStar reported. A stalled vehicle caused some issues for motorists in the U.S. 59 HOV lane at 6:59 a.m.
According to witnesses to the fiery truck crash, the unidentified driver hit the barrier at the Will Clayton exit ramp and flipped over, sliding on the truck's side down the exit ramp.
The out-of-control truck apparently hit both walls on the way down the ramp and caught fire.
Firefighters from Houston, Humble and the Eastex Fire Departments responded, along with the Harris County HazMat team.
Information was not immediately available on the driver's identity, cause of the wreck and what type of chemical he was hauling. The crash site is just south of FM 1960 on U.S. 59.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...-tanker-wreck-on-US-4146031.php#photo-3945618


I'm sure there will be an update later. Passed it this morning- it was a bad one. Looked like the whole top half of the tanker burned off. RIP Driver.