MARION CO., Ill. - A crash this morning on Interstate 57 ten miles north of Salem claimed the life of an elderly Louisiana man.
Illinois State Police said the accident took place at 9:50 a.m. this morning, Wednesday, September 6.
Preliminary investigative details show that the driver of a black 2011 Chevrolet pickup, Albert H. Rhodes, 80, of Arcadia, Louisiana, was traveling southbound on 57 at milepost 125. With Rhodes was Virginia N. Crosby, 62, also of Arcadia.
Rhodes' truck crossed the median, spinning sideways and entering the northbound lanes of traffic on 57.
A white 2014 Freightliner truck tractor-trailer combo being operated by Tammy M. Shaw, 49 of Winder, Georgia, was northbound at that location when the Chevy pickup slid into its lane of traffic. The Freightliner struck the driver's side of Rhodes' truck.
Rhodes was flown to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, but succumbed to his injuries there. Crosby was transported to Salem Township Hospital for treatment. A passenger in the Freightliner, Ronnie R. Wallace, 55 also of Winder, Ga., was, like the driver, uninjured.
No citations were issued.