IL - Truck crash, US 40, anhydrous ammonia leak, multiple fatalities, evacuation - Teutopolis, 29 Sept 2023

[ifindedout]

Parts of Teutopolis, Illinois, evacuated after deadly truck crash, anhydrous ammonia leak

The crash caused a "plume" of ammonia to escape and residents within a one mile radius, including northeastern Teutopolis, were told to evacuate.

www.usatoday.com

Crews were working to contain a chemical leak in central Illinois after a deadly highway crash caused a semitruck to spew anhydrous ammonia, authorities said.

There were multiple fatalities after several vehicles crashed along U.S. Highway 40 around 9:30 p.m. Friday, Illinois State Police said. Police declined to say how many people died.

The crash also caused a semitruck to leak the toxic compound, police said Saturday. Emergency responders were on the scene Saturday morning, and road closures prevented residents from reaching their homes.

Federal regulators are investigating the cause of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday.

UPDATE: Five confirmed dead in Teutopolis ammonia leak, including children

Update at 1 p.m. – Kim Rhodes, the Effingham County Coroner, has confirmed that five people, including two children, died as a result of Friday night’s ammonia leak in Teutopolis. The c…

www.wcia.com

Update at 1 p.m. – Kim Rhodes, the Effingham County Coroner, has confirmed that five people, including two children, died as a result of Friday night’s ammonia leak in Teutopolis.

The children and one adult are confirmed to be from the same family, and they are from the area. The other two fatalities are from Missouri and Ohio.

The person from Ohio, authorities said, was a semi-truck driver who was passing through the scene.

Another five people were airlifted from the area for treatment at Central Illinois hospitals. One of those airlifted victims is the driver of the truck that was carrying ammonia; he was taken to Springfield Memorial Hospital.

Approximate location of crash

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[Marysmith]

Oh my gosh how horrible!

 

[Greggsmomanddad]

Crews were working to contain a chemical leak in central Illinois after a deadly highway crash caused a semitruck to spew anhydrous ammonia, authorities said.

There were multiple fatalities after several vehicles crashed along U.S. Highway 40 around 9:30 p.m. Friday, Illinois State Police said. Police declined to say how many people died.

The crash also caused a semitruck to leak the toxic compound, police said Saturday. Emergency responders were on the scene Saturday morning, and road closures prevented residents from reaching their homes.

Federal regulators are investigating the cause of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday.


Update at 1 p.m. – Kim Rhodes, the Effingham County Coroner, has confirmed that five people, including two children, died as a result of Friday night’s ammonia leak in Teutopolis.

The children and one adult are confirmed to be from the same family, and they are from the area. The other two fatalities are from Missouri and Ohio.

The person from Ohio, authorities said, was a semi-truck driver who was passing through the scene.

Another five people were airlifted from the area for treatment at Central Illinois hospitals. One of those airlifted victims is the driver of the truck that was carrying ammonia; he was taken to Springfield Memorial Hospital.

Approximate location of crash

I used to haul NH3 that is some nasty stuff. IMO it should be outlawed. I'm sure they can use many alternative methods to fertilize soil.

 

[IceIce9]

COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER

Joann Deters said the Teutopolis community has rallied in the wake of the crash, taking in people who had to evacuate and making the best of a terrible situation. The town’s Oktoberfest celebration, filled with lots of delicious food reflecting the little town’s proud German heritage, was canceled, but nothing went to waste.

“So they took all the food and gave it to the first responders, which was very nice,” Deters said.

Effingham County coroner IDs 5 killed from ammonia leak; others recount narrow escape

A woman describes her flight ahead of the deadly ammonia cloud that rolled out of a Teutopolis road crash.

pantagraph.com

 

[ifindedout]

https://www.npr.org/2023/09/30/1202...ral-illinois-has-caused-a-deadly-ammonia-leak
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The tanker truck crash in central Illinois that killed five people may have started when another vehicle tried to pass the chemical-laden truck, a federal transportation official said Sunday.

The tanker truck was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia when it jackknifed Friday night, and hit a utility trailer parked just off the highway, according to Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The tank carrying anhydrous ammonia hit the trailer hitch of the other vehicle, which punched a six-inch (15 centimeter) hole in the chemical container, Chapman said during news conference Sunday.

Chapman said the tanker truck's driver pulled to the right and ran off the road as it traveled west on U.S. 40 in Teutopolis, a small community about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis.

[...]

Traffic, including the tanker, was pushed onto U.S. 40, which bisects Teutopolis, earlier Friday because of another truck crash on Interstate 70.

ETA: looking at street view, the shoulders on 40 are not very wide, and are gravel.

 

[airportwoman]

Teutopolis is just outside Effingham, in southeastern Illinois.

What a scary thing.

 

[IceIce9]

The ISP investigation determined that the tanker was operated by Prairie Land Transport Limited of Brownstown, a town west of Effingham that Route 40 runs through and which is located just north of Interstate 70. At 8:40 p.m. on Friday, the tanker was driving westbound on Route 40 near Teutopolis when another vehicle may have tried to pass the tanker, which caused the driver to swerve to the right and the truck ran off the road.

The truck subsequently rolled over and jackknifed, exposing the front of the tank. Chapman added that momentum carried the tank toward a small utility trailer that was parked illegally near the side of the road. The front of the tank hit the utility trailer’s hitch, which tore a six-inch-diameter hole into the tank.

UPDATE: Emergency operations ending in Teutopolis

Update at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 1 – Emergency response teams are wrapping up their operations in Teutopolis, Illinois State Police announced. Since Friday night, a number of local, state and even…

www.wcia.com

 

[IceIce9]

Victims identified

Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said official results from the autopsies won’t be available for several weeks. The victims of the multi-vehicle crash in Teutopolis, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis, were Teutopolis resident Kenneth Bryan, 34, and his children, Walker Bryan, 10 and Rosie Bryan, 7; Danny J. Smith, 67 of New Haven, Missouri; and Vasile Cricovan, 31, of Twinsburg, Ohio, were killed.

5 died of exposure to chemical in central Illinois crash, preliminary autopsies find

Preliminary autopsies show that five people who were killed in a central Illinois crash involving a semitruck carrying anhydrous ammonia died from exposure to the caustic chemical.

apnews.com

 

[Marysmith]

The ISP investigation determined that the tanker was operated by Prairie Land Transport Limited of Brownstown, a town west of Effingham that Route 40 runs through and which is located just north of Interstate 70. At 8:40 p.m. on Friday, the tanker was driving westbound on Route 40 near Teutopolis when another vehicle may have tried to pass the tanker, which caused the driver to swerve to the right and the truck ran off the road.

The truck subsequently rolled over and jackknifed, exposing the front of the tank. Chapman added that momentum carried the tank toward a small utility trailer that was parked illegally near the side of the road. The front of the tank hit the utility trailer’s hitch, which tore a six-inch-diameter hole into the tank.

UPDATE: Emergency operations ending in Teutopolis

Update at 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 1 – Emergency response teams are wrapping up their operations in Teutopolis, Illinois State Police announced. Since Friday night, a number of local, state and even…

www.wcia.com

Oh wow, what an unfortunate series of events… if only…

 

[IceIce9]

I happened to be driving past Teutopolis this morning and it reminded me to check for an update.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Autopsies have confirmed that five people who died when a chemical tanker overturned in central Illinois last month died from exposure to caustic anhydrous ammonia fumes, an official said Monday.

The official results confirmed preliminary findings from the Sept. 29 crash, Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes said. The victims, including two children, suffered severe chemical burns to their entire bodies, as well as their eyes and respiratory systems, she said.

https://southernillinoisnow.com/2023/10/24/172541/