RYAN TOWNSHIP -- It was a morning mess for commuters driving down Interstate 81 south in Schuylkill County.
Three tractor-trailer crashes had part of the interstate closed Thursday morning. One wreck was deadly.
A 7-mile stretch was closed for just over seven hours on the southbound side of Interstate 81 near the Frackville exit. It was caused by a domino effect of tractor-trailer crashes.
“It was dark and rainy out. You couldn’t see a lot,” said one driver.
“You’re just lucky that you’re alive and everything like that. Lucky that everyone around me got out alive. It’s unfortunate that someone had to lose a life back there,” said Sean Job ofTamaqua.
State police say the first crash was just after 4:30 a.m. A FedEx tractor trailer lost control and flipped over. Then an older couple driving an RV couldn’t stop in time and smashed into the back of a big rig driven by John Draper of New York.
The couple in the RV was taken to the hospital. Investigators don`t think they were badly hurt.
“I didn’t get out of the truck for a while. I wanted to make sure it was safe, and when we were all out talking, I heard another big bang up the road I guess,” Draper said.
That bang was the third tractor trailer crash. The driver lost his life when he lost control of the big rig. Witnesses say he was barreling down the interstate and couldn’t stop when he saw the back up, so he swerved off the road.
The Schuylkill County deputy coroner identified that driver as Edward Rosario, 34, of Tobyhanna.
Just before noon, the interstate reopened. It’s still not known why that initial tractor trailer lost control leading to all the crashes. State police are still investigating.
