Tanker driver dies as rig hits cement barrier, bursts into flames

Firefighters examine the wrecked cab of a tanker that crashed, killing the driver in Detroit on Thursday. (Associated Press)

The Associated Press

1/10/2008

DETROIT — An unidentified tanker driver was killed when his rig crashed into a cement barrier on a highway overpass Thursday, plummeting 30 to 40 feet to the ground where it exploded and caught fire near a Detroit residential area.

The tanker’s cab got stuck on the barrier, police said. The tanker is believed to have been hauling liquid propane, said fire spokeswoman Katrina Butler.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

"We don't know if he lost control. There was no wet pavement," Butler said.

The tanker fell from Interstate 75 in southwest Detroit. Flames shot dozens of feet in the air. A home near where it landed caught fire as well.

"None of the witnesses said the truck swerved," Michigan State Police Lt. Monica Yesh said. "There are no skid marks, which usually indicates a medical emergency somewhere along the line."

Images captured by a motorist showed flames leaping into the air from the bridge, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.

"The heat was so intense you could feel it all the way across the freeway," Alan Carter told WJBK-TV. "As a truck driver it just breaks my heart to see any truck upside-down like that."

When the tanker hit the guardrail, it flipped over and exploded when it hit the ground near a house, Michigan State Police Lt. Monica Yesh said. But the cab of the truck became lodged on the freeway barrier, which prevented it from toppling over the edge, she said.

The driver's body was found in the cab of the truck on the freeway, Yesh said.

Butler identified the driver as Robert Martinez, though Hubert Blough, vice president of Aero Bulk Carrier, said employment records show the driver's name is Ronald Martinez.

A woman who said she lives in the house said her bedroom began burning about 8 a.m.

"When I was laying down, the flame came through my window," Latosha Davis told WDIV-TV. Davis and other occupants of the home were able to get out safely.

The home was engulfed within 10 to 20 minutes, she said.

Both directions of the interstate were closed in the area of the crash.

Investigators were determining if the bridge's support beams were damaged by the crash, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman Rob Morosi said.