An incident involving a semi-truck spill of a hazardous substance resulted in five fatalities and wounded five more in Teutopolis, central Illinois, prompting the evacuation of numerous local inhabitants.
The truck, transporting anhydrous ammonia, a corrosive substance, overturned Friday night, discharging over half of its 7,500-gallon load, as per the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
Among the deceased were three family members, including two children under 12, and two out-of-state adult drivers, according to Effingham County Coroner Kim Rhodes. Additionally, five individuals were air-transported to medical facilities, with their statuses unrevealed.
While the identities and causes of death of the victims remain undisclosed, emergency responders, including firemen, EMTs, and hazmat experts, worked intensively into Saturday night to manage the chemical leak and the ensuing emergency.
Cleanup guidance is anticipated from private and federal environmental consultants, who were directed to the site in Teutopolis, situated approximately 110 miles northeast of St. Louis.
The National Transportation Safety Board will review the crash, spokesperson Jennifer Gabris told The Associated Press.
The accident caused “a large plume, a cloud of anhydrous ammonia on the roadway that caused terribly dangerous air conditions in the northeast area of Teutopolis,” Kuhns said.
“Because of these conditions, the emergency responders had to wait. They had to mitigate the conditions before they could really get to work on it, and it was a fairly large area.”
Although not strong, crews working overnight struggled against shifting wind.
“The wind changed three or four different times on us,” said Tim McMahon, chief of the Teutopolis Fire Protection District. “That’s another reason we got crews out in different places, reporting back on which way the wind’s going.”
