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Apr 25, 2008 10:17 pm US/Central
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Semi Truck Crashes Into CTA Station; 2 Dead
Driver Released From Hospital And In Police Custody Friday Night
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Two people were killed when a semi truck crashed into the stairwell of a South Loop CTA Red Line station during the afternoon rush Friday.
The 18-wheeler smashed into the street-level bus shelter without warning, then "climbed the stairs" of the Red Line Cermak/Chinatown station's north stairwell around 5:20 p.m., said fire department spokesperson Larry Langford.
Twenty-one people were transported to area hospitals, Langford said. Eleven were in critical condition, including four children. Eight adults were in stable condition and two adults were in good condition.
Most of those injured were either in the bus shelter underneath the elevated train station or in the stairwell of the station, fire department spokesperson Rodriguez said.
The fatalities were both female pedestrians.
The truck driver, 51-year-old Don Wells, was taken to Stroger Hospital. It took rescuers an hour to extricate him from the cab of the truck.
A hospital spokesperson said Wells tested negative following a blood alcohol examination, but that he refused a urinalysis. He apparently was brought to Stroger conscious but in an ambulance already accompanied by police officers. A CAT scan revealed he had no head injuries but at Wells' insistence the hospital administered no further medical care.
Of the four treated at Stroger, a 26-year-old woman with significant injuries remains hospitalized, as well as an 11-year-old girl in stable condition, and a 14-year-old boy from the North Side who has been released.
At Provident Hospital a 42-year-old female and a 39-year-old-male remain hospitalized with blunt trauma wounds. Two other women are in fair condition at Northwestern University Medical Center.
The intersection has a risky reputation because the traffic lights there change quickly, said Meekus Wong, who works at a restaurant located directly in front of the train station.
"That was always a very dangerous intersection because the traffic lights switch really fast," she said.
"I was supposed to take the train. Thank God I took the bus," she said.
Police could not immediately confirm details of the crash.
Engineers determined there was no structural damage to the overhead station, but the stairs sustained "very significant damage," said CTA President Ron Huberman. Trains on the Red Line, which runs to the city's far South Side from downtown, will not stop at the station until further notice, he said.
Witness Maury said, "I was standing across the street from the entrance to the CTA elevated trains on Cermak, for the Cermak/Chinatown stop. Then, as I looked back towards the entrance of the train station, I saw this tractor trailer truck, and I think the company name is Xtra, he either was coming off the Dan Ryan Expressway or the Stevenson, headed north and you're supposed to make the left on Cermak. He just, like he was out of control, went straight ahead to the base of where the escalator is to the train station."
Dazed, in shock and bleeding, the injured seemed to be everywhere near the gateway to Chinatown.
"It looked like Armageddon, the end of the world," said witness Robert Moore. "People flying everywhere, a lot of people hurt that weren't expecting it."
"He just kept going, he was kinda bent down on the steering wheel like had a heart attack or went to sleep," witness Daryl Holbert said of the truck driver.
"Right now this is just a tragic traffic accident," said Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.
Illinois State Police have closed the ramp leading from the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway (I-94) to the Stevenson Expressway (1-55), a District Chicago trooper said.
Authorities are still trying to confirm the cause of the accident.
CBS 2's Mike Parker and Vince Gerasole, the STNG Wire and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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