The Chicago Fire Department at the scene of a semi fire Monday morning on the Kennedy Expressway at Cicero. | Chicago Fire Department photo
(CHICAGO) A truck driver was cited after a fiery five-vehicle crash left one person dead Monday morning on the Stevenson Expressway on the Southwest Side.
A semi truck hauling 40,000 pounds of frozen meat struck a pickup that was stopped in front of it in the southbound lanes of I-55 near Cicero Avenue at 10:50 a.m., according to Illinois State Police.
The pickup then struck a green minivan, which went underneath the trailer of another semi truck that was hauling 17,800 pounds of flammable paint. That semi then struck the rear of another vehicle.
The two semis, the pickup and the minivan immediately caught fire, police said. After the fire was extinguished, a person was found dead in the minivan.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office is reviewing dental records to identify the person who died, according to police.
Another person was taken to a hospital in fair-to-serious condition, according to Fire Media.
The driver of the semi that caused the crash, a 59-year-old man from Logansport, Indiana, was cited for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, and following too closely, police said. The crash remains under investigation.
