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A girl was killed and five other motorists hurt Friday when a tractor-trailer rig slammed into four vehicles at an intersection on U.S. 30 in northwest Fort Wayne, a city police spokeswoman said.
The girl was in critical condition at the crash scene, but Fort Wayne Police spokeswoman officer Raquel Foster said she died not long after arriving at a hospital. The girl’s name was not released.
The five others who were injured were also taken to area hospitals.
Their conditions were not available Friday night, but none was believed to be in critical condition, Foster said.
The crash happened about 3:20 p.m. at the intersection of U.S. 30 and Kroemer Road, near the Sweetwater Sound headquarters.
The westbound lanes of U.S. 30 at Kroemer Road were closed to traffic until about 9 p.m., an emergency dispatcher said.
Witnesses told police the four vehicles that were struck – a Ford pickup, a Chevrolet pickup, a Mercury sport utility vehicle and a Pontiac minivan – had been in the right lane of westbound U.S. 30, waiting at a red light.
Witnesses reported that the rig, going west in the same lane, did not slow down before rear-ending the line of vehicles, just after the light had turned green, Foster said.
The girl who was killed and another small child were riding in the minivan, which was at the end of the line of waiting vehicles. The rig struck the minivan first, crumpling its back half, Foster said.
The crash sent the minivan and the SUV into the intersection. The pickup trucks and the rig ended up in a grassy median of U.S. 30, west of the intersection. The Chevrolet pickup landed on its roof.
Debris from the crash, including parts of vehicles, potted plants and children’s toys, was scattered throughout the intersection.
No one has been charged or cited in the crash, which remains under investigation. The truck driver was taken to a hospital to be tested for drugs and alcohol, a standard procedure in fatal crashes, Foster said.
