Semi crash closes I-55 near Bloomsdale

BLOOMSDALE, Mo. -- A tractor-trailer crash Thursday night on Interstate 55 in Ste. Genevieve County, Mo., claimed the life of a Jonesboro, Ill., man, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.

William R. Randolph, 47, was driving a 2009 Mack tractor-trailer south on I-55 near mile marker 157 about 11:25 p.m. Thursday when the truck traveled off the left side of the roadway, hit a guardrail, jackknifed and overturned, the patrol reported.

Trooper Juston Wheetley said Randolph was passing another vehicle on the left when the tanker truck drifted onto the shoulder and struck the guardrail.

The vehicle overturned and separated, with the trailer going down a ravine into a creek bed, where it caught fire, while the truck flipped onto the roadway and caught fire, Wheetley said.

Ste. Genevieve County Coroner Leo Basler pronounced Randolph dead at the scene, Wheetley said.

He said the fire was so hot, it burned up the placards on the trailer, making it impossible for officers to determine immediately what the tanker was carrying.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources sent investigators to the scene to find out what chemicals might have been spilled in the crash and whether they had contaminated the creek, Wheetley said.

Because the accident occurred on a bridge over the creek, the Missouri Department of Transporation sent inspectors to evaluate the damage and determine the safety of the bridge, he said.

Wheetley did not have the name of the creek, but a satellite view of the area shows Fourche a Du Clos Creek passes under I-55 just south of Bloomsdale, Mo., near mile marker 157.

It was unknown whether Randolph was using a safety device.

The accident totaled the vehicle.

The interstate was closed all night and into Friday morning, Wheetley said, with the northbound lanes reopening about 8 a.m. and one southbound lane reopening just before 9 a.m.

The crash remained under investigation Friday afternoon.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Interstate 55, Bloomsdale, MO