Lake Station- At approximately 4:00 pm this afternoon, troopers were dispatched to a single vehicle crash eastbound on I-80/94 at the 13 mile-marker. This location is approximately one mile east of the I-65 interchange. Troopers arrived at the scene and discovered a gravel truck had struck the median wall and the trailer overturned, resulting in gravel being thrown across all lanes of the westbound interstate.
Preliminary reports indicate that the truck was traveling eastbound in the right lane when, for unknown reasons, the truck drove to the left directly into the median wall and an overhead signpost. This catastrophic impact resulted in the vehicle being engulfed in flames, trapping the driver inside of the cab and the trailer going over the median wall and into the westbound lanes.
The Lake Station Fire Department responded to the scene and put out the fire and at that time it was discovered that the driver was in the vehicle. The Lake County Coroner also responded to the scene and will identify the deceased once positive identification has been made.
IDEM (Indiana Department of Emergency Management) was also contacted due to burning oil that had drained into the sewer system of the interstate. As of the writing of this news release (7:00 p.m.), the eastbound and westbound lanes are all restricted with traffic able to pass the scene on the right shoulder in both directions.