6:20 P.M. UPDATE:
INDIANAPOLIS — A Brownsburg truck driver is listed in critical condition after the semi tanker he was driving on an I-465 ramp at I-70 on the east side of Indianapolis overturned and exploded Thursday afternoon.
Indiana State Police said Jeffrey Denman, 59, Brownsburg, was rescued by three people who saw the wreckage and helped him escape the flames.
Trooper Chris Hanson was the first on the scene and assisted the three other Good Samaritans with treating the driver’s injuries until medics arrived, state police said.
The accident happened just before 2 p.m. Thursday on a ramp from I-465 south to I-70 east, state police said.
Preliminary investigation revealed the semi tractor-trailer was exiting from I-465 onto I-70 when it overturned on the curve of the ramp, state police said. Investigators believe unsafe speed contributed to the roll-over.
I-70 eastbound and westbound lanes were closed in the area for about two hours while the fire was extinguished and the scene rendered safe, and then were reopened.
The I-465 southbound ramp to I-70 eastbound was to remain closed for several hours Thursday night as first responders cleaned up the wreckage from the semi.
The state police were assisted by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indianapolis Fire Department, Indiana Department of Transportation, the Marion County Health Department, Zores Wrecker Service, and Indianapolis EMS.
ORIGINAL STORY
INDIANAPOLIS — A semi tanker believed to be carrying jet fuel overturned and exploded on a ramp near mile marker 43 on northbound Interstate 465 at about 2 p.m. Thursday, Indiana State Police said.
The male driver of the tanker was pulled out by people passing by, and taken to a local hospital, according to Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine, who was at the scene, according to WISH-TV, the Republic’s newsgathering partner.
“Without question those good Samaritans saved this driver’s life,” Perrine told reporters at the scene of the crash.
The area of the crash was expected to remain closed through 9:30 p.m. Thursday night as first responders and firefighters worked to clear the scene and continue the investigation, state police said.
“The obvious thing is to get the fire put out, completely put out and under control, then we have to get the wreckage removed, the bridge needs to be inspected by engineers because there was a fire on top of the bridge,” Perrine told media at the scene Thursday afternoon.
The Indiana Department of Transportation reopened westbound I-70 at I-465 a few hours after the accident, state police reported. Eastbound I-70 remained closed Thursday afternoon, as well as the I-465 southbound ramp to I-70 eastbound where the accident occurred.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
