Two serious accidents on I-57 just south of the Salem exit closed the interstate for nearly 12 hours starting just after midnight Thursday morning.
Traffic once again began flowing past the Salem exit around noon Thursday following an extensive clean up.
Initial information indicates the first crash occurred when a pickup driven by 40-year-old Vincent Knight from Mississippi ran into the rear of a parked semi at the entrance ramp to the rest area south of Salem. The pickup caught fire with Knight trapped inside. Two brothers from Hempstead Arkansas, Jesus and Felix Torres, took immediately action to get the door of the truck open so Knight could get out before being burned. Knight initially rejected hospital treatment, but later went to Salem Township Hospital to be checked. The two persons in the parked semi, also from Mississippi, were not injured.
A short time after the original crash six trucks and a car became involved in a rear end crash when unable to stop for the original wreck.
Salem Fire Protection District had to extricate one of the semi drivers that was later airlifted to a St. Louis hospital. The driver’s trailer was ripped open and cans of corn were scattered across the roadway. No other injuries were reported.
The rerouting of I-57 southbound traffic through Salem resulted in bumper-to-bumper traffic at times throughout the morning on Thursday.
