TUSCOLA, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois State Police have revealed that a crash on Interstate 57 Wednesday afternoon was caused by a deer.
Officials said that at approximately 1:25 p.m., a car driving northbound hit a deer that ran onto the highway. As the car came to a stop, it was hit by a semi-truck traveling behind it that could not slow down in time.
After hitting the car, the truck went off the highway, hit a guardrail and came to a rest across both lanes of traffic. The truck then burst into flames and was largely destroyed.
The driver of the car that hit the deer was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay. The driver of the semi-truck and a passenger in the car were not hurt.
Nearly 21 miles of I-57 were shut down for 12 hours as crews battled the flames and cleared the wreckage. The highway reopened just before 1:00 a.m.
Update at 5:28 a.m. on 6/22
ARCOLA, Ill. (WCIA) — The Illinois State Police reported that all lanes of Interstate 57 are back open. There is no further information on the cause or details of the crash.
Update at 5:55 p.m.
Interstate 57 remains shut down by the crash at Tuscola, but State Police have now closed the highway north of Mattoon, a further 10 miles south of Arcola. A total of 21 miles of I-57 are now shut down.
State Police have set up the following detour for northbound drivers:
MATTOON, Ill. (WCIA) — Northbound traffic on Interstate 57 is now being directed off the highway at Mattoon, State Police announced.