Two people were hospitalized after a semi and car collided on wet pavement on State Road 46 East and County Road 300N south of Hartsville.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to the crash at 9:20 a.m. Tuesday and were told on their way there that a woman was trapped in the car and the semi was on fire, deputies said. A passing motorist was able to remove the injured female from the car before deputies arrived.
The woman, April D. Johnson, 42, of Greensburg, was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital and then flown to Indianapolis for treatment, where her condition was unknown, deputies said. The driver of the semi, Brandon Murphy, 33, of Dayton, Ohio, was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital for treatment of abdominal pain.
Deputies said Murphy was driving east on State Road 46 and lost control of the semi on wet pavement, crossed into the westbound lane, jack-knifed the semi and then went off the roadway. Johnson was traveling west on State Road 46 and as the semi crossed into her lane, she swerved off the roadway to avoid a collision, deputies said.
Both vehicles collided in the ditch and the impact separated the semi cab and engine from the trailer, deputies said. The semi then caught fire and firefighters spent about an hour putting the fire out, deputies said.
State Road 46 East was shut down for several hours as cleanup was done, deputies said.
