Crime & Safety

Downers Grove Man Killed in Indiana Semi Crash

Two Illinois truck drivers were killed Monday morning in a fiery semi crash in Lafayette, IN, according to multiple media reports.

Indiana State Police identified the victims as Marek Dziudek, 44, of Downers Grove, and Tadeusz Wojtaszek, 31 of Romeoville, both of whom were struck by a semi while they were standing alongside Interstate 65, where their own trucks were parked, according to the Indiana Star.

Indiana State Police said the accident occurred just after 7 a.m. after a white semi became disabled and pulled over on the shoulder of southbound I-65. A red semi pulled ahead of the truck so the disabled vehicle's trailer could be transferred, the Indiana Star reports.

The two truck drivers, one of whom was wearing a reflective vest, were standing next to the road as they prepared to make the transfer, police said.

The driver of a UPS semi—identified as Plata Albertico, 42, of Berwyn, IL—reportedly failed to notice the stopped trucks. Albertico clipped the back of the white trailer and struck the other two drivers before veering off the road, the Indiana Star reports.

Two of the trucks then caught fire, according to Fox Channel 59.

One of the men was knocked onto the hitch area of the red trailer, where he died, and the other died at a nearby hospital. Police were unable to identify which victim drove which truck.

Albertico was not injured in the crash, according to WLFI.com.


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