Posted on 05/02/2024 6:44:59 AM PDT by texas booster
SH 36 in Temple has been reopened after a nearly 350,000-pound distillation column fell off the back of a semi-truck and onto a car Saturday morning, killing two people and sending one to the hospital in critical condition, according to the City of Temple.
The column pinned the vehicle underneath after it was detached from the semi-truck and took a coordinated effort from several different departments to remove it, Temple Fire and Rescue Public Information Office Santos Soto said.
"That load was bigger than anything that we had equipment for and we worked with several different agencies to get several pieces of equipment out there to assist with the recovery process of the occupants," Soto said.
The City has now stated the stretch of road, near Highway 317, has been cleared of debris and is reopened for normal traffic flow.
"We had our special operations team out there as well as special operations teams from Killeen and Georgetown Fire," Soto said.
According to Temple Fire, two of the people in the pinned car died and the third person, the driver, was removed after being trapped for four hours. The driver was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Their identities have not been released at the time this article was published.
I’m pretty sure they didn’t “let” it fall. Sounds like a horrible, horrible freak accident...unless negligence is shown. 😟 Prayers for the families of the ones involved.
Thanks for posting Texas News!
Incompetent load securing is how that happens.
I learned a lot from the experience. Treat them with care - they can't stop on a dime.
As far as distillation columns go, that wasn’t a very big one.
Depends - if the D.O.T./F.M.C.S.A. is able to find a miniscule amount of fault with the driver they will likely stop there (path of least resistance). But any rigging outfit that I have ever had dealings with/knowledge of in my 30+ years in the industry will likely NOT have a complete idiot driving for them - stakes are VERY high for those folks.
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