
A traffic incident on Interstate 44 in St. Louis resulted in the death of a 34-year-old woman after a semi-truck collided with her vehicle. The accident took place near the Vandeventer Avenue exit around 6:10 a.m. yesterday, as reported by KSDK. Authorities reported that distracted driving by the semi-truck driver was a factor in the crash, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The collision caused the woman's car to be pushed off the overpass, landing on Vandeventer below. According to FOX 2 Now, the semi-truck driver admitted to diverting his attention to pick up a drink, which led to the crash into the woman's eastbound Prius. She was taken to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
After the crash, significant traffic delays occurred as part of the semi-truck hung over the highway's guardrail and the damaged car was visible beneath the bridge. This led to the closure of multiple lanes on eastbound I-44 and Vandeventer Avenue, as per the First Alert 4 report. The highway was closed for nearly six hours. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating whether icy conditions contributed to the incident.
Local residents expressed relief that no pedestrians were under the bridge when the woman's car fell. Linda Hoppe, a nearby resident, told KSDK, "That person left their home this morning to go out and do their work or do their shopping or whatever the reason was that they're out and they had knowledge that they would not be back home this evening."