JEFFERSON CITY — Three persons were hurt, one seriously, in a traffic crash involving three tractor trailer rigs on I-55 in Ste. Genevieve County Thursday afternoon.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports 21-year-old Nya A. Fifer of St. Louis was taken to Mercy Hospital St. Louis by Air Evac helicopter for treatment of serious injuries; 20-year-old Aries D. Ballard of St. Louis was taken to Mercy Hospital Jefferson by Joachim Plattin Ambulance for treatment of moderate injuries and 44-year-old Queentin J. Arceneaux of Crowley, Louisiana was taken to Mercy Hospital Jefferson by Ste. Genevieve County Ambulance for treatment of minor injuries.
The patrol says the crash happened when a southbound 2021 Freightliner Conventional driven by 41-year-old Maria C. Pacheco-Garcia was stopped in the right lane of I-55 due to a separate traffic crash ahead and another tractor trailer rig was stopped in the left lane due to the previous accident. Then a southbound 2017 Freightliner Conventional driven by Arceneaux was unable to stop. It traveled off the right side of the roadway, striking the trailer of the 2021 Freightliner and then striking Ballard and Fifer who were pedestrians. Pacheco-Garcia was not hurt.
The crash happened about 5:35 p.m. at mile marker 158.
The patrol says the two drivers were buckled up
The trailer of the 2021 Freightliner Conventional was totaled, but the tractor had no damage. The 2017 Freightliner was a total loss.