A fatal accident occurred early this morning when a sedan collided with a stationary semi-truck on a Knoxville highway, resulting in one death. According to the Knoxville Police Department, the crash took place around 5:15 a.m. on the I-640 West ramp to I-75 North, as mentioned in a statement obtained by WBIR.
The sedan, for reasons yet to be confirmed, reportedly failed to safely merge onto I-75 North and instead rear-ended a semi-truck parked on the right shoulder out of the traffic lanes. Scott Erland, Knoxville Police Department Communications Manager, told a local media outlet that the driver of the sedan was pronounced dead at the scene by the responding officers. Investigations are currently underway to fully understand the circumstances leading up to the collision.
The identity of the deceased has not been released, pending notification of next of kin. The crash has been described as "serious" by authorities, with ongoing investigations conducted by the Knoxville Police Department, as per information provided by WATE. The parked semi-truck involved in the incident was positioned off the main roadway, a fact that is being considered as part of the probe into the crash.
While the Knoxville Police work to quickly piece together the events that culminated in this tragedy, traffic patterns were disrupted following the incident. However, regular flow was expected to be restored as the day progressed. The Knoxville Police Department has not immediately released further details, opting instead to thoroughly investigate the crash before making any additional information public.
