ISP called to two serious crashes, one fatal, on I-55 in McLean County

Posted on July 29, 2021

*The tanker driver, a 63-year old man from Mascoutah was pronounced dead at the scene by the McLean County coroner. The man’s name has not been released. (Facebook/City of Bloomington – Fire)*

MCLEAN – A southern Illinois trucker was killed Wednesday afternoon when when his tractor tanker trailer hit a semi on northbound Interstate 55 in southwestern McLean County.

The crash happened about 3:30 p.m. at milepost 143, about eight miles from an earlier collision, reportedly involving a semi and two cars on the Timber Creek Bridge on southbound I-55 near Shirley. That crash happened about 12:40 p.m., but Illinois State Police have yet to release details about the initial accident.

Southbound lanes were blocked because of the first crash, while northbound lanes were backed up between Lincoln and McLean because of the second wreck.

State Police said the semi driver was slowing down due to the back-up, but the driver of the tanker failed to slow down and struck the semi.

The tanker driver, a 63-year old man from Mascoutah was pronounced dead at the scene by the McLean County coroner. The man’s name has not been released.

The semi driver, a 57-year old man from Mishicot, Wisconsin, was taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, according to police.

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