1 Dead, 3 Hurt In Dan Ryan Wreck; Rain Blamed For Multiple Highway Crashes
Updated 11/06/13 - 1:52 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Slick roads from the rainy conditions overnight have led to about a dozen traffic crashes on area expressways, mostly on the Dan Ryan, where one person died in a four-vehicle crash early Wednesday.
CBS 2's Susanna Song the deadly crash happened around 5:30 a.m., on the Dan Ryan Expressway, in the inbound lanes near 83rd Street.
Illinois State Police said a preliminary investigation determined the driver of a Pontiac Grand Prix lost control while driving in the far right lane, then struck the right wall. A Ford Taurus then hit the Pontiac, sending it crashing into a Freightliner semi-trailer truck in the far right lane, police said. A second truck also was involved in the crash.
A 34-year-old woman died after she was taken to a hospital. Police said two men and an 11-year-old boy also were hospitalized. A third man involved in the crash did not go to a hospital.
Emergency crews shut down all but one inbound lane at 83rd Street, and kept them closed through the morning rush. The lanes did not reopen until about 10 a.m.
Illinois State Police were investigating the cause of the crash, but rain and slick roads more than likely played a role in the wreck.
Illinois State Police said there were approximately a dozen crashes on Chicago area expressways overnight, most of them due to the rain, and most of them on the Dan Ryan. In addition to the crash near 85th Street on the Dan Ryan, there also were crashes at 43rd Street, 47th Street, and 63rd Street.
On northbound Interstate 57, just before the junction with the Dan Ryan, a semi-trailer truck jackknifed and caught fire around 2:30 a.m., injuring the driver. One eyewitness said he saw a Chicago police officer pull the truck driver out of the cab.
"First I heard a big kaboom, ran down. The truck was sideways. I believe he hit the guardrail, or whatever, and fire everywhere. Police, CPD, pulled him out,"Roy Sconyers said.
That crash shut down the northbound lanes of I-57 as crews worked to remove the wreckage. All lanes reopened by 8 a.m.
Police said wet conditions and low visibility likely were a factor in the crash.
Rainy conditions were expected to last throughout the morning rush, before skies clear sometime Wednesday afternoon.
