Photo: CBS12
A 66-year-old Miami man driving a box truck was killed Monday after the vehicle overturned on Florida’s Turnpike in St. Lucie County.
The crash happened near mile marker 166 in unincorporated St. Lucie County. FHP said the truck was traveling north in the outside lane when, for reasons still under investigation, it partially entered the outside paved shoulder before re-entering the travel lanes and overturning, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
The truck then collided with a guardrail on the outside shoulder and came to rest on its roof. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:43 a.m.
A 31-year-old Miami man was also inside the truck. FHP said he was flown to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce and is listed in stable condition.
SLCSO said that due to the crash investigation, both the northbound and southbound lanes of the Turnpike have reopened after being closed for hours at Okeechobee Road. The sheriff’s office said motorists should avoid the area and seek alternative routes.
Witness D told CBS12 that he and others were directly behind an Enterprise moving truck when they saw it begin swerving from left to right.
“At first, it looked like the driver might have been trying to avoid another vehicle,” D said. “It also appeared that he may have fallen asleep, but we cannot say for sure what happened.”
D and another passenger in the car, S, said the truck suddenly swerved to the left and then back to the right before the driver lost control. He said the truck flipped twice on the Turnpike before hitting the guardrail, which brought the vehicle to a stop.
They said they immediately got out of their vehicle and called 911. When they approached the truck, it was upside down. They saw one unresponsive male and one female who was conscious and responsive inside the vehicle. The woman later confirmed there were only two people in the truck.
According to D, the woman was speaking Spanish and saying that a part of her body was hurting. He said they stayed at the scene while emergency responders worked to remove both people from the truck. When they eventually left, responders were still working to remove the unresponsive male and the woman.
“This is what we personally saw and heard at the scene,” D said.
The Florida Highway Patrol is at the scene investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash. SLCSO is assisting with traffic control.
The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.
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Source: Cbs12
