PUTNAM COUNTY, Ind. — One person is dead and two people are injured after a crash between a pickup truck and semi tractor-trailer Friday morning.
Indiana State Police (ISP) said the crash happened on I-70 westbound on June 28 around 10:30 a.m.
A preliminary investigation by ISP indicates that traffic was slow/stopped in the area due to an earlier accident on I-70 at the 30 mile marker westbound.
Police said a 2023 Freightliner semi tractor-trailer, driven by a 49-year-old Indianapolis man, was traveling westbound on I-70 in the passing lane. The semi's hazard lights were on because of slow/stopped traffic. The semi driver was stopped when he felt something hit the back of his truck.
ISP said a 2016 Nissan pickup truck was traveling westbound in the passing lane behind the semi, didn't see the slowed/stopped traffic and hit the back of the semi-tractor trailer.
The driver of the pickup truck, Norma Rivera, 54, of New Castle, Delaware, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two passengers in the pickup truck, a man and a child, were transported via air ambulance to local hospitals in Indianapolis. Police said they are both expected to survive.
ISP noted that drugs and alcohol are not believed to be a contributing factor of the accident.