According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, the crash happened just before 6:00 am, when the operator of a semi ran off the roadway and collided with cable barriers, then traveled back into the eastbound lanes and overturned. A secondary crash occurred when an eastbound vehicle driven by 38-year-old, Kenneth Rothanburg, of Waite Park, MN, collided with the overturned semi-trailer.
Rothanburg and his passengers, 37-year-old Joycelyn Rothanburg, and 10-year-old Paul Rothanburg, were injured in the crash. They were taken to an area hospital for treatment of apparent minor injuries. The driver of the semi-tractor trailer, 25-year-old Marti Acosta, of Miami, FL was not hurt.
The Kentucky State Police Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement responded to the scene at the request of Sheriff’s Deputies to conduct a safety inspection on the semi-tractor trailer. At the time of the crash, the flatbed trailer was hauling an Genie Z/80 man lift. The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection responded to the scene as well to coordinate the clean up of about 80 gallons of spilled diesel fuel.
I-24 eastbound lanes were closed for about six hours for investigation and cleanup of the crash site.
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