Early Monday morning, March 28, 2011, a fatal explosion took place on Interstate 30 near downtown Fort Worth, Texas. A tanker truck collided with a pickup truck driving the wrong way, causing a dramatic motor vehicle accident that will have a lasting structural impact on the roadway. This Texas trucking accident claimed the life of Alejandro Raya, a 45 year-old father of three children.
The fiery trucking accident caused major structural damage to the bridge over Sycamore Creek. Westbound lanes of the freeway will be reduced while Texas Department of Transportation crews make emergency repairs. Steel beams in the bridge were melted out of shape by intense heat after the pickup slammed head-on into a fuel-filled tanker truck about 2:40 a.m. The tanker overturned and exploded. Reports indicate that the truck had just refueled and was sitting entirely full of diesel fuel at the time of the trucking crash. Flames shooting into the sky could be seen for miles.
Tragically, Alejandro Raya, the driver of the tanker truck, was trapped inside the cab, and died at the scene of the accident. He was 45 and lived in Fort Worth.
The pickup driver, Louis Nieves, 23, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. He remains in the Mansfield Jail. He recently moved to Texas from Vancouver and admitted to police that he drank 10 beers before the crash. Nieves has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.
The tanker was owned and operated by Petro-Chemical Transport, based in Addison, Texas. The north side of the Sycamore Creek Bridge sustained the structural damage. In addition to the beam replacement, the bridge’s substructure and concrete deck requires repairs. All of these repairs will take at least several months to complete, if not longer.
Our thoughts go out to the family of Mr. Raya. Texas trucking accidents, especially death cases, are complicated and involve a lot of evidence which needs to be adequately preserved. Our injury lawyers recommend that the family of a deceased victim contact an experienced trucking lawyer as soon as possible after an accident like this, to make sure evidence is maintained and that their rights are represented. A legal battle is about to begin on two fronts because this case will invovle both a criminal and civil case, which again the family will need help with.
SMS Legal