ORANGE TWP. – Two people were killed on Interstate 96 in Ionia County on Tuesday, July 1 after a three-vehicle crash just west of Portland.
About 3:15 p.m., a semi-truck was stopped in a traffic merge zone on westbound I-96 near Sunfield Highway when a pickup truck that was either slowing or stopped behind the semi was struck from behind by a box truck, pushing it into the stopped semi-trailer, the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
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Both the pickup and the box truck caught fire and were engulfed in flames, trapping the drivers of both vehicles. Both drivers were declared dead, the sheriff’s office said. The semi driver was uninjured.
Heavy traffic was merging into a construction zone when the crash occurred, police said.
Police did not release the names or hometowns of the drivers.
The Ionia County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by Michigan State Police, Portland police, Belding police, Portland EMS, Berlin/ Orange Fire, the Ionia County Road Department, MDOT, SET Environmental Inc. and Reed & Hoppes Towing.
The incident was the second fatal crash on Tuesday in the area. Earlier on July 1, a motorcyclist was killed on M-66 just north of I-96.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 2 killed in I-96 crash near Portland
Reporting by Al Wilson, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
