KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two Kansas City, Missouri, employees died and one other was critically injured after a trash truck rolled over and caught fire late Tuesday morning near Front Street and Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department Sgt. Bill Mahoney said the city trash truck was northbound on I-435 when the driver lost control while exiting to Front Street. Investigators believe the trash truck then struck a concrete barrier and overturned before catching on fire.
Mahoney said a KCPD officer saw the crash and rescued a person inside the trash truck.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash.
A total of three people were inside the truck at the time of the crash. Mahoney said one of the workers died at the scene. Two others were taken to a nearby hospital - one of them listed in critical condition and the other in serious condition.
The second employee later died at the hospital.
There were no other vehicles involved in the crash.
"I am absolutely devastated," Kansas City, Missouri, Director of Public Works Michael Shaw said. "My team is absolutely devastated."
Shaw thanked the actions of the KCPD officer who helped to pull two of the victims from the truck.
"We had a substantial tragedy today in Kansas City," Mayor Quinton Lucas said earlier Tuesday.
Hour after finding out the second employee died, Lucas once again responded to the incident on Twitter.
"I am deeply saddened to have learned that a second city employee has died as a result of today’s accident," Lucas said. "My heart breaks for his family, his friends, and our entire Kansas City Public Works Department."
KCMO City Manager Brian Platt sent his condolences to those who worked with employee who died on Twitter.
"Our hearts and prayers are with the family and friends of our Public Works who lost his life today, and for those who were injured," Platt said in part.
Traffic was initially backed up on I-435 as fire crews worked to put out a smoldering fire. By early Tuesday afternoon, traffic on I-435 started to return to normal.
