IOWA – One person has been confirmed dead in a multi-vehicle crash that shut down the westbound lanes of I-80 Monday morning.
It happened east of Grinnell, near the 187-mile marker, around 7:35 a.m. Sgt. Alex Dinkla with the Iowa State Patrol said a mechanical error with a tire on a Chevy pickup truck caused the vehicle to hit the cable barriers. The truck then bounced back into traffic.
Two semis slowed down so they wouldn’t hit the pickup. Sgt. Dinkla said a third semi did not slow down and struck the rear end of one of those semis. The driver in the third semi was pronounced dead at the scene.
A passenger in the semi that was struck is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
A Ford F-150 was also damaged in the incident after striking debris from the crash, said Sgt. Dinkla.
The westbound lanes of I-80 were closed until just after 10:00 a.m.
More details about the crash are expected to be released by the Iowa State Patrol later Monday.