Three killed as semi truck slammed into traffic backup in nine vehicle pile up

Three people were killed in a nine vehicle pile up after a semi truck slammed into a traffic backup on Interstate 71 in Ohio on Saturday night. 

The accident happened at about 6:27 p.m. on April 11th on I-71 at US-36/SR-37 in Delaware, Ohio. 

According to NBC4i, 50-year-old Modou F. Ngom was heading north on I-71 in a 2006 Freightliner tractor trailer when he failed to stop for slowed traffic in a construction zone. Ngom’s truck then slammed into several vehicles, resulting in a pile-up involving nine total vehicles. 

“I saw the semi on the other side going northbound. Running into vehicles and coming towards the median right to my left. And immediately flames were shooting into the air. It was one of those moments where it’s like slow motion, and you’re thinking, ‘Am I seeing what I’m seeing?’ It was so wild,” said a motorist who witnessed the crash. “People ran over to a red vehicle that was right to my left, and tried to help, but the whole driver’s side was mangled.”

Three people in a Chevy Silverado from Ashley, Ohio –  a 37 -year-old man, a 36-year-old woman, and a one-year-old child – were killed in the crash. Three other people were hospitalized with serious but not life threatening injuries. 

The Ohio Department of Transportation says that the crash occurred in an area under construction as part of the Sunbury Parkway interchange project. The crash is currently under investigation, and will officially determine how construction contributed to the crash. 

Ngom is currently being held in the Delaware County Jail on vehicular homicide charges.