KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Traffic on Interstate 70 near Blue Ridge Cutoff was at a standstill Sunday afternoon because of two separate crashes, one of which was fatal.
According to Kansas City, Missouri, police, a Honda van was pulled onto the right side of the shoulder of Interstate 70 near Interstate 435 waiting for a tow truck when a Peterbilt semi-truck loaded with construction equipment struck the van around 11 a.m.
The semi overturned and the construction equipment caught fire, then the cab of the truck caught fire.
Both the driver of the van and the semi were taken to the hospital with critical injuries.
While first responders were working on the first accident, traffic backed up and caused a second crash on the interstate near Blue Ridge Cutoff.
A semi truck was slowing to a stop in the traffic backup when another semi did not stop and slammed into the first.
The driver of the second semi was partially ejected from the truck and pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. They have not been identified at this time.
Traffic was shut down or slowed in the area for roughly six hours.
