Truck driver cited for crash that left decimated cab dangling from Virginia I-77 bridge

A truck driver was cited for a single vehicle crash that left him with injuries near Hillsville, Virginia, on Thursday.

The Hillsville Fire Department (HFD) responded to I-77 at mile marker 14 for a reported tractor trailer crash shortly after 4 p.m. on August 8.

When crews arrived at the scene, they found the tractor dangling off the bridge over Route 58 east. “The cab had sheared off and fallen to Highway 58 and rolled over the guardrail,” HFD said.

Virginia State Police later said that the truck was northbound on I-77 when it struck a guardrail on the right side of the road, causing the cab of the tractor to separate from the rest of the vehicle and sparking a fireball, according to witnesses.

“The passenger compartment rolled through both the eastbound and westbound lanes of Route 58, striking a sign in the median. The passenger compartment eventually came to rest off of the westbound lanes of Route 58, while the trailer portion of the vehicle stopped and remained on I-77. The driver of the tractor trailer, Nelson A. Diaz Dieguez, 36, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, suffered serious injuries in the crash. He was transported to an area hospital. Diaz Dieguez was not wearing a seatbelt. He has been cited for failure to maintain control of the vehicle,” VSP said.