From The Chicago Tribune:
A tollway maintenance worker was killed and an Illinois State Trooper suffered serious injuries when a semi truck ran into their vehicles Monday night on Interstate 88. The crash happened about 9:45 p.m. near Eola Road in Aurora.
The state trooper and the maintenance worker were stopped to assist a disabled semitrailer about a quarter mile east of Eola Road when a semitrailer hit all three vehicles and they burst into flames, Illinois State Police Spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
The maintenance worker was pronounced dead at the scene and the trooper taken to an area hospital before being transported to Loyola University Medical Center, Bond said.
The Illinois Tollway identified the worker as 39-year-old Vincent Petrella, who started his career in 2001 as a toll collector and has been an operator laborer since 2005. He was a father of two, according to the agency.
“Our roadway maintenance workers are on our roadways 24/7 to serve customers across our 286-mile system of tollways,” Illinois Tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said in a statement from the agency. “They plow snow, maintain our roadways and, most importantly, are the first ones on the scene to help drivers in need. It was during what should have been a routine job that things went horribly wrong.”
Tollway Spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said the tollway truck that was hit was a stake-body truck with a crew cab, portable signs and an arrow on the back to direct traffic, she said.
Two dozen Illinois State Police cars took part in a procession escorting the injured trooper from the west suburban hospital to Loyola medical center in Maywood. Two Maywood police vehicles blocked traffic on Roosevelt Road as the procession sped by about 2:10 a.m. Tuesday.
State police closed eastbound Interstate 290 while escorting the ambulance.
The Illinois Tollway opened one lane of traffic by 5:30 a.m.
thanks Chris
