A multi-vehicle crash involving four 18-wheelers, a mini-van and Jaguar car shut-down all lanes of Interstate 75 South in Kentucky Tuesday morning.

The wreck happened around 7:30 a.m. at mile marker 1 near the Tennessee/Kentucky state line. Deputies on the scene said that all lanes of I-75 South would be closed for several more hours.

Investigators believed the chain-reaction crash began after the Jaguar hydroplaned and struck a guard rail. A passing big-rig then hit the car. Seconds later, additional 18-wheelers and a mini-van became tangled in the wreck.

Two people – the driver of the Jaguar and one of the 18-wheelers – were injured and taken to Jellico Hospital. There was no immediate word on the extent of their injuries.

Officials said “low visiability” was a factor in the crashes.

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A multi-vehicle crash involving four 18-wheelers, a mini-van and Jaguar car shut-down all lanes of Interstate 75 South in Kentucky Tuesday morning.

The wreck happened around 7:30 a.m. at milemarker 1 near the Tennessee/Kentucky state line. Deputies on-scene told 10News at 10:30 that all lanes of I-75 South would be closed for several hours.

Investigators believed the chain-reaction crash began after the Jaguar hydroplaned and struck a guard rail. A passing big-rig then hit the car. Seconds later, additional 18-wheelers and a mini-van became tangled in the wreck.

Two people – the driver of the Jaguar and one of the 18-wheelers - were injured and taken to Jellico Hospital. There was no immediate word on the extent of their injuries.

Officials said low visibility was a factor in the crashes.

Above, investigators survey the spot on I-75 where a semi careened off the roadway and over an embankment.

Miraculously no one was seriously injured or killed when a tractor trailer when through the median, across the opposite lane of travel and nearly 100 yards down an embankment without flipping over on I-75 in Whitley County.

“I’ve seen a bunch of wrecks, but this one is kind of different. To take it that far and not turn over or not hurt the driver that was a little bit different. Someone was watching over him,” said Kentucky State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Officer Dennis Jackson, who investigated the crash.

Mykhaylu Grytsyk, 39, of Raleigh, N.C., was going south on I-75 in a Volvo tractor trailer when the crash occurred shortly before 7 a.m. near the 17-mile marker.

“The driver told me that his left front tire blew. It just caused him to drift across the road, through the median and down over the embankment,” Jackson said.

The vehicle, which was carrying Styrofoam coolers, traveled about 275 feet down the embankment and never flipped over.
Other than a small scratch to the head, Grytsyk wasn’t injured.

“He was real lucky,” Jackson said.

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

“There

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Kentucky officials say a bus carrying students on a college visit when it crashed on an interstate had not received a state inspection in at least two years.

Commercial Vehicle Enforcement spokesman DeWayne Koch says charter buses like the one that wrecked Tuesday undergo random roadside inspections by state officers. He says the bus that crashed hadn’t been reviewed in the past two years.

Koch says charter bus operators are required to conduct their own annual safety inspections. State officials want to review those records for the crashed bus. It was operated by Commonwealth Bus Service Transportation. The company did not return calls seeking comment.

The bus crashed near the Jefferson-Shelby county line. Several people remained hospitalized Wednesday.

Louisville police are looking into possible mechanical failure as a cause.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest Update

Posted: Jun 12, 2013 2:33 PM

Updated: Jun 12, 2013 3:49 PM

Police have released the name of the man killed in a crash along I-75 Wednesday morning.

Police say Michael McCall, 22, of Cynthiana died in the crash when he slammed his pickup truck into the back of a semi that was pulled over to the shoulder of the highway ramp.

Police say the semi pulled over to the shoulder just past the northbound I-75 onramp from Athens-Boonesboro Road around 2 a.m. For an unknown reason, McCall’s pickup truck veered from the travel lane and slammed into the back of the semi. The pickup was left wedged under the trailer and the wreckage burst into flames.

Two lanes wereshut down after a deadly crash along I-75 in southern Fayette County early Wednesday morning.

Topics:

Michael McCall,
I-75,
Fayette County,
Fatal Crash