KINMUNDY, IL — Just hours after a crash between two semi-trucks on southbound Interstate 57 near Salem saw one driver airlifted to a regional hospital for treatment, second crash occurred on southbound I-57 near the Kinmundy exit.
According to crash reports, around 5:50 Monday night, a semi being driven by 50-year-old Oleg Rudoy of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida was traveling slowly when he was struck in the rear by a semi-driven by 47-year-old Brandan Hall of Cairo. Hall was taken to an area hospital for treatment of injuries. Charges are pending investigation.
Kinmundy-Alma firefighters were able to extinguish a small fire in the engine of Hall’s truck. The crash caused the interstate to be closed to only one lane during the cleanup. Approximately six hours earlier, a tanker truck driven by 61-year-old Matthew Shuman of Flora was traveling northbound in the right lane when Shuman lost control of the vehicle, crossed over the grass median, and struck the trailer unit of a southbound FedEx truck driven by 55-year-old Mio Drasko of Hoffman Estates. Shuman then continued through the guardrail on the west side of the southbound lanes.
Firefighters had to force the door of the cab open on the tanker truck to get the driver out. He was then airlifted from the scene. The driver of the FedEx truck refused treatment. The impact of the crash caused his truck to split open and some of his cargo spilled onto the interstate. The tanker however did not spill any of its contents.
Southbound I-57 was closed in that area for several hours during cleanup.