ORLAND, IN (WTVB) – A sleepy driver apparently led to a fiery two vehicle head on crash on the Indiana Toll Road near Orland on Monday afternoon which led to six persons being injured.
The Indiana State Police say it happened at about 4:45 p.m. in the eastbound lanes at mile marker 136.
When they arrived, troopers found a passenger car was blocking the eastbound lanes while the other vehicle was in a ditch engulfed in flames. Six injured adults were being tended to by first responders and a few good Samaritans that stopped to assist.
Two of the injured were bleeding severely. Troopers applied tourniquets to both of those patients to control the bleeding.
Steuben County EMS personnel arrived on scene and took over medical care prior to the arrival of three medical helicopters that were needed to fly all six patients to hospitals in Fort Wayne.
Several motorists stopped and immediately rendered assistance by removing all four occupants from the burning car. The car was fully engulfed in flames by the time Orland Fire Department arrived.
A preliminary crash investigation by the State Police revealed that a 2010 Lexus passenger vehicle driven by 37-year-old Samuel Afagbedzi of Maumee, Ohio was heading west when it’s believed he fell asleep and veered off road into the center grass median.
The vehicle crossed over into the eastbound lanes and crashed head-on into an eastbound passenger car driven by 58-year-old Gary Kohl of Mentor, Ohio. Kohl’s car ran off road into the side ditch and caught fire.
There were a total of six occupants involved in the crash; two in Afagbedzi’s vehicle, and four in Kohl’s vehicle. All occupants were properly restrained.
Both lanes of the Toll Road had to be shut down during the investigation. Landing areas had to be established on the roadway for the three responding helicopters, and there was a lengthy cleanup process on both sides. Traffic flow was restored at about 7:45 p.m..
The investigation into the crash is continuing.
Assisting the Indiana State Police were the Steuben County Sheriff’s Department, Steuben County EMS, the Orland Fire Department, Parkview Samaritan and Lutheran Air flight crews, Toll Road Maintenance personnel, and Bill Professional Towing.
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