EXTRA: 2 killed in separate fiery crashes on I-70 West in Clark County
1) The first crash:
The first crash took place around 7 a.m. on I-70 westbound between Ohio 72 and U.S. Route 68 in a construction zone.
Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers say a semi hit a guardrail, and that caused the vehicle to catch fire.
The crash caused a back-up that apparently led to a second crash about five miles east.
2) The second crash:
“We got another call about a second crash here at the mile marker 57,” Springfield Command Post Brian Aller said. “A semi-re-ended another semi, which rear-ended a pickup truck and that truck rear-ended another vehicle.”
Aller said the semi that caused the string of accidents caught fire, and the driver was unable to get out. Matthew Cornett, 37, of Wilmington, was pronounced dead at the scene, which was not in the construction zone.
Aller said the trailer Cornett was hauling was empty, but when Cornett struck the semi in front, it caused massive flames. Inattention is believed to be the cause of the accident, Aller said, however, an investigation is ongoing.
3) The third crash:
The third crash on Interstate 70 happened a couple hours after the first two, miles to the west near Enon and out of the construction zone.
MORE: Victim in 2nd fatal, fiery I-70 crash in Clark County identified
The victim killed in the second of two fiery, fatal crashes Thursday on Interstate 70 was identified as 66-year-old Jimmy L. Carnegie of Englewood.
Carnegie was headed east on I-70 near mile post 48 when his 2004 Nissan Pathfinder caught fire after it was rear-ended by a 2003 Freightliner driven by Abdirashid O. Farah of Columbus, according to the patrol’s Springfield Post.
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