A ten-vehicle pileup involving eight cars and two semitrailers killed one person and sent half a dozen others to Wisconsin hospitals. Germantown police did not reveal the identities of the fatal truck crash victims, but did state that all those involved in the accident were adults.
Police say the motor vehicle accident happened on a recent Tuesday morning just after 9:00 a.m. Unconfirmed media reports say a tractor-trailer was traveling northbound on U.S. 41/45 in Germantown near the Holy Hill Road exit at Highway 167.
The truck apparently swerved across the center of the roadway and into the path of oncoming southbound traffic. The rig allegedly struck several vehicles, two of which were shown pinned beneath a tractor-trailer by television crews filming the scene. A person in one of the two pinned cars died in the crash.
Wisconsin police and emergency responders from Germantown and Washington County reported that one person had to be cut away from a damaged vehicle. That victim was transported to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa with severe injuries. Another victim was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in West Bend. Four others were treated at Community Memorial Hospital and were released.
None of the multi-vehicle accident’s survivors is said to be suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Cleanup efforts by Germantown-area response crews required both sides of U.S. 41/45 to be closed. Northbound lanes reopened after three hours. Hazmat units were called to contain reported diesel fuel leakage from one of the tractor-trailers.
As police investigate the accident, victims and their families will be left to deal with short-term and long-term medical expenses, funeral costs for the deceased victim, as well as possible lost wages. In such a case, they may choose to seek compensation to cover costs.
Source: msnbc.com, “One person dead, 4 released from hospital after crash on U.S. 41/45,” Nov. 8, 2011
