Tennessee transportation officials say that two workers were killed and a state trooper was hurt in a crash involving a semi truck early this morning.
The crash occurred around 4 a.m. on Wednesday in Arlington, Tennessee.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol reports that two A & A Safety workers contracted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) were replacing reflectors along westbound I-40 at mile marker 26 when the crash occurred.
Tennessee news outlet Local Memphis confirmed that a semi truck struck a state police patrol cruiser and then the workers.
Sgt. Chris Richardson explained, “We had a TDOT area working, they were working on the roadways, and we had a tractor trailer that came into the scene. And instead of slowing down or moving over, he crashed into the patrol car and then into the two workers.”
The two workers died in the crash. The trooper has been taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.
It isn’t clear at this time whether anyone else was injured.
The incident resulted in lane closures on I-40 for several hours. All lanes reopened by 9:30 a.m.
The cause of crash remains under investigation.
We are extremely saddened by the loss of two contract workers from @AandASafety1 and for the @TNHighwayPatrol officer who was injured in a work zone crash on I-40 outside Memphis this morning. Please Work with Us, Move Over – Slow down. #SlowDown #MoveOver #WorkwithUs pic.twitter.com/2RcJ8Of5P3
— myTDOT (@myTDOT) November 6, 2019