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One killed, four injured in Tri-State crash Tuesday
Updated: July 3, 2012 10:53AM
A crash last week on the Tri-State Tollway involving five vehicles left one person dead and several injured during the early morning rush near Oak Brook.
At 7:59 a.m., the Oak Brook Fire Department received a call about the accident, which had taken place on northbound Interstate 294 at Roosevelt Road.
“The section is under construction,” said Oak Brook Battalion Chief Cliff Ekkert, who was on duty Tuesday morning. “They were pouring concrete just short of where the accident actually happened.”
Illinois State Police Trooper Michelle Kistulinec said a 31-year-old male was killed. Authorities were withholding his name as of Friday.
Ekkert said the victim was in the fourth vehicle involved and was driving behind a “small dump truck” when the accident occurred.
“That’s what he ran into,” Ekkert said. “Then a commercial van hit his vehicle. (The van) was the last vehicle.”
Ekkert said the first vehicles were involved in “minor taps on the fenders,” but the remaining vehicles got the worst of the damage.
“It was just a chain reaction and got worse as the cars piled up,” Ekkert said. He estimates 150,000 cars go through the nearby toll booth every day.
Ekkert said five people sustained injuries, with two requiring advanced life support transport, one requiring basic life support and two refusing treatment.
Fire Chief Tom McEllin warned residents of the extensive construction project underway on the Tri-State, and asked everyone to be cautious when driving through construction areas, especially during the holiday weekend.
“We had a terrible accident this morning,” McEllin said Tuesday night. “Please be careful out there and pay attention while you’re driving. Day-in, day-out driving a motorized vehicle is the most dangerous thing you and your family will be subjected to, so please be careful out there.”
