Smithton man dead after early morning tractor trailer crash
A Smithton, Missouri, man died Friday morning after a crash involving three tractor trailers shut down part of Interstate 70 in Cooper County early this morning.
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Dale J. Jorgenson, 65, of Smithton, died in the crash after his vehicle exploded on impact, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.
One tractor trailer was traveling westbound on I-70, and two were traveling eastbound on I-70. One of the vehicles traveling in the eastbound lanes rear ended the truck in front of him, causing that truck to cross into the westbound lane. The truck in the westbound lane then hit the truck, the crash report said.
The truck in the westbound lane, which was driven by Jorgenson, exploded on impact, the crash report said.
The other two drivers suffered minor injuries. Aaron T. Poindexter, 46, of Troy, and Kelvin F. Shepard, 35, of Wichita, Kansas, were driving the other trucks.
One of the tractor trailers was hit in the rear, breaching its refrigerated trailer which was hauling approximately 39,000 pounds of pork, said Sgt. Scott White with MSHP Troop F.
Westbound lanes of I-70 near Boonville were shut down after the crash, which happened just before 3:30 a.m. Friday around the 98 mile marker.
One lane of westbound I-70 was back open by 8:45 a.m. The rest of the road was reopened by 10 a.m. this morning.
Traffic was being detoured off of I-70 at milemarker 101, then onto Highway 5 or Highway 40.
Backups could be seen for miles on the MoDOT Traveler map
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect how many trucks were in the eastbound and westbound lanes
