Seven people are dead and five others are in the hospital following a semi truck accident in northern Indiana on Thursday, October 27th.
A tractor-trailer was traveling along the Indiana Toll Road just south of the Michigan border when it struck a minivan from behind. The van was carrying 10 passengers at the time of the accident. Seven passengers from the van died at the scene of the impact, while four others were taken to local hospitals for additional treatment. Two of the passengers had to be airlifted to the hospital. The driver of the semi truck was also injured and was transported to the hospital.
The names of the seven dead passengers, the four survivors and the semi truck driver have not been released at the time of writing. However, it is evident that the van had an Illinois license plate, while the semi truck had a Wisconsin plate. Still, Indiana State Police spokesman, Sgt. Trent Smith, said, “That’s not to say that the driver of the truck was from Wisconsin or the driver of the minivan was from Illinois, but that’s where the vehicles were registered.”
The crash took place around 8 pm on Thursday the 27th, and did not involve any other vehicles. The incident was serious enough to shut down the Indiana Toll Road for four hours, with officials reopening the road around midnight. The investigation into the exact cause of the crash is still ongoing. In many states, police operate on the presumption that any driver colliding with the back of another vehicle is the one at fault in an accident, though it is unclear if this is the case in Indiana.
