Traffic Accident on I-40 Results in 3 Deaths

On Saturday night, January 10, 2009, three people were killed in an accident on eastbound Interstate 40 near mile marker 75.  The interstate was closed in both lanes of traffic for more than five hours.

The accident occurred when a 1995 Ford Explorer heading eastbound on I-40 crossed the median into oncoming westbound traffic around 6:00 PM and smashed into a tractor trailer.  According to a news release from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Terry L. Ward, 47, of Jackson, Conelius Lee Foster, 33, of Tigrett and Richard S. Surgener, 28, Savannah were all killed in the tragic crash.

Following the collision with the Ford Explorer, the tractor trailer crossed the median and struck an eastbound tractor trailer, said Trooper Tim Massengill.

Stanley Hudson, 42, of Toone, was driving the Ford Explorer at the time of the accident and was transported to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital with life-threatening injuries.  His condition was not known at the time of the article.

Jemal Martin Faison, 39, of Fayettville, N.C., was driving the westbound tractor trailer and was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital.

Thomas D. Thibault, 48, of Kamiah, Idaho, was driving the eastbound tractor trailer and was not injured.  The passengers in the tractor trailers were also not injured.

After the accident, traffic was diverted from eastbound I-40 off exit 74 for more than five hours while the crash wreckage was cleaned up, said Massengill.  The left lane of westbound I-40 was also shut down for more than an hour.

According to Massengill, alcohol was not believed to have been a factor in the accident.  Massengill said that as of Sunday evening, authorities were still trying to determine what caused the driver of the Ford Explorer to cross the median.

The four people in the Ford Explorer were not wearing seat belts and were all ejected from the vehicle.

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