A fiery crash along Interstate 65 Thursday morning left nine injured and bottlenecked traffic northbound from Elizabethtown throughout the morning as crews cleared wreckage from a tractor-trailer’s collision with two stopped buses and a minivan.
According to Hardin County Deputy Sheriff Chuck Browder, the predawn crash at the 98 mile-marker resulted in no grave injuries, but numerous minor ones, including to three small children aboard the buses.
“It looks like the truck sideswiped the two buses and minivan,” Browder said. “The buses and van were stopped on the shoulder for some reason.”
The van and buses, operated by the northern Kentucky singing group The Morgans, were parked on the outbound shoulder just before 5 a.m. when the northbound truck, operated by Tennessee driver Ricky Springer of LinkAmerica trucking, clipped the three vehicles before igniting and burning to the ground.
The trucker suffered several broken ribs, burns and a broken knee, according to HCSO spokesman Greg Lowe.
Dan Morgan, 62; his wife, Linda, 59; their son, Daniel, 31; his wife Charissa, 31; three children between the ages of 2 and 7 and the Morgans’ traveling companion, Chad Howard, 22, were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after the crash, according to police.
Doug Estes, of Doug’s Towing, said he was called to the scene for mitigation around 5 a.m. Work continued through 11 a.m. as traffic backed up to the 94 mile-point at the Elizabethtown exit. One lane of northbound traffic was opened shortly after the wreck occurred.
No charges are being filed against the driver, since it was an accident, Lowe said.
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