2 killed in 5-vehicle crash on local interstate
BELLVILLE, Ohio (WJW) — Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers are investigating a Wednesday night crash in Richland County that killed two people and injured several others.
It happened just before 11 p.m. on Interstate 71, near milepost 159 in Perry Township, according to a Thursday news release from the state patrol.
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A preliminary investigation suggests a Nissan Rogue SUV driven by 60-year-old Michael L. Albaugh of Lewis Center was southbound that night when it struck a deer, causing the hood to unlatch and block the windshield.
As the SUV slowed down on the roadway, a semi truck following behind, driven by a 28-year-old Minnesota resident, swerved to avoid it. The semi truck went off the left side of the roadway, through the median and into the oncoming lanes, where it hit a Chevrolet Uplander minivan and a Ford Escape SUV, then caught fire.
A second semi truck, driven by a 43-year-old Florida resident, struck the first semi truck and overturned in the northbound lanes.
The driver of the minivan, 60-year-old Shawna E. Smith of Mansfield, and the driver of the SUV, 62-year-old Ronald D. Smith of Fairlawn, were killed.
The drivers of the other vehicles, as well as the passengers of the Nissan Rogue and the second semi truck all suffered minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
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The northbound lanes were closed for about nine hours and some southbound lanes were closed for four hours while the scene was cleared and investigated.
Since 2019, there have been more than 1,400 crashes on the portion of I-71 that runs through Richland County, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol data — the second-most among all U.S. and state routes in that county. In previous years, seven of those crashes were fatal.
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