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Apr 14, 2008 8:44 am US/Central
Driver Killed In Dan Ryan Crash
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
A motorist was killed when he lost control of the minivan he was driving, causing it to flip and eject him early Monday on the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) on the Near South Side.
Jose Ramirez, 53, of 4345 S. Sacramento Ave., was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m. at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County after being involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 18th Street, according to a spokesman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Ramirez, who was driving a Chevrolet Lumina minivan south on the Dan Ryan, lost control and flipped the minivan at the ramp to the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) about 1:30 a.m., according to Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Rosauro Sanchez.
"He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and he was ejected,'' Sanchez said. Ramirez was the only person inside the minivan, which hit a concrete median barrier, but no other vehicles, Sanchez said.
Driving conditions were clear and the road was dry, according to Sanchez who said it was not immediately known whether drugs, alcohol or speeding were a factor in the wreck.
The two lanes in the southbound ramp to the Stevenson were closed for about two hours while investigators probed the crash, but the northbound ramp and regular Dan Ryan traffic were not affected, according to Sanchez.
The ramp where the wreck happened was re-opened about 3:30 a.m., ISP District Chicago Trooper Ted Pappas said.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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