A truck driver and one of his dogs is dead after skidding out of control and rolling up an embankment in Colorado on Friday morning.
The accident happened on Friday, August 18th near Pueblo, Colorado just after 7 a.m.
The Colorado State Patrol believes that the semi truck was heading northbound on Interstate 25 near the Burnt Mill Road exit when it collided with a guardrail. The force of that impact sent the truck veering back across the road, where it smashed through another guardrail and skidded across the southbound lanes. The truck then jackknifed and rolled with such force that it went up an embankment, flipped over two lanes of an overpass, and landed on the east side of the overpass.
33-year-old trucker Denzal Jamal Stewart was killed in the crash, along with one of his dogs. The rolling semi truck struck a pickup truck in the incident, but the motorist was uninjured. One of Stewart’s dogs survived the crash and was saved from the wreckage. That dog is now in the care of the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. The semi truck’s load of hamburger patties was also strewn across the road during the wreck.
According to CBS News, Colorado State Patrol does not believe that alcohol, drugs, or even excessive speed were factors in the crash. Officers are currently investigating the possibility that the truck driver fell asleep.
The southbound lanes of I-25 south of Pueblo were shut down for 14 hours as crews worked to investigate the scene and clear the wreckage.
The surviving dog is under veterinary care with only minor scratches, and officials are working to reunite it with Stewart’s family, reported KKTV 11.