UPDATED STORY: Bear man identified as victim of wrong-way crash
NEWARK, DELAWARE (4/16/2015) A fiery wrong-way fatal crash closed all northbound lanes of Interstate 95 near the Newark toll booth for more than four hours this morning, stranding a long line of vehicles on the highway.
Lanes were reopened just after 7 a.m. and the backup was easing, but DelDOT said the high-speed E-ZPass lanes remained closed until just before 8 a.m.
The accident involving a tractor-trailer and a car happened about 2:20 a.m. just north of the tolls and the Welsh Tract Road overpass.
State police said the male driver of a 2006 Chevrolet Impala was killed when his car, southbound in the northbound lanes, collided with the front of a northbound tractor-trailer and burst into flames. The car came to rest on the left shoulder. The victim’s name has not been released.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Francisco E. Corona, 30, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was taken by ambulance to Christiana Hospital for treatment of injuries police said were not life-thtreatening.
Corona was wearing a seat belt but the driver of the Impala was not, police said.
Shortly after the iniital collision, a northbound 2006 Volkswagen Jetta struck the front axle of the Freightliner tractor which had been torn off when it was struck by the Impala. The Jetta’s driver, Jerry A. Webster, 36, of Stony Point, New York, was not injured. Police said he was wearing a seat belt.
Northbound I-95 was closed at Route 279 in Maryland until just after 7 a.m., forcing traffic onto U.S. 40 and local roads through Newark and Glasgow.
State police are investigating the crash.
Aetna Hose, Hook & Ladder Company, Singerly Fire Company, Belvedere Fire Company, New Castle County paramedics and DelDOT crews responded to the accident.
