A Minnesota man died Tuesday afternoon in a chain reaction-style crash on Interstate 57 north of Benton.
Lawrence L. Rich, 39, of Montgomery, Minn., died in the accident, which involved at least four vehicles and occurred at 4:02 p.m. in the northbound lane of I-57 at mile post 74.5.
“The cause of death has not been determined,” said Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler, who ordered an autopsy.
Rich was a semitrailer driver for the Jeff Foster Trucking Company in Superior, Wis.
According to the Illinois State Police, Rich was driving a 2007 Kenworth semi that was transporting a load of large steel pipe.
Rich’s vehicle crashed into a 2005 Freightliner semi driven by Donald G. Troyer, 62, of Mixa, Mo., causing Troyer’s vehicle to catch on fire and hit a 2007 Kenworth semi driven by Dale E. Stumbo, 55, of Lima, N.Y.
Stumbo’s vehicle in turn hit a 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche driven by David L. Payne, 57, of Woodlawn. The Stumbo and Payne vehicles had been stopped in traffic on I-57.
Troyer was transported to the Franklin Hospital in Benton by Cardinal EMS. He had non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Payne and Stumbo did not appear to have injuries, police said.
Firefighters from Benton, Christopher, Sesser and West City responded and were on the scene for several hours.
Franklin County, Ill. —
