A pedestrian was struck and killed on westbound Interstate 10 in Orange Friday morning, closing the highway for hours and backing up traffic for miles as investigators worked the scene. The collision was reported at about 10:45 a.m.
According to KBTV Fox 4 Beaumont, the Texas Department of Public Safety placed the crash on I-10 West near 16th Street. A separate report from Yahoo News described the location as near Simmons Drive, citing police, so the exact stretch of highway involved remains unclear. Yahoo's account identified the victim as an unidentified man who was pronounced dead at the scene after being struck by a truck tractor.
Driver Stayed at the Scene, Police Say
The truck tractor's driver stopped immediately after the collision and has been cooperating with investigators, per the same Yahoo report. Orange Police are working to determine the circumstances that led to the fatal collision, Fox 4 Beaumont reported, though no cause has been established.
One local outlet, KOGT, reported that witnesses said the man deliberately walked in front of the tractor-trailer rig. That account reflects witness statements rather than a conclusion from investigators, and police have not confirmed it as an official finding.
Autopsy Ordered as Highway Reopens
Orange County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Chad Jenkins told KFDM he ordered an autopsy into the man's death, according to the Fox 4 Beaumont report. The westbound side of I-10 was closed for hours while crews worked the scene, with traffic backed up for miles before the highway reopened.
The Orange crash follows a similar incident on I-10 in El Paso, where a pedestrian lying in the roadway near Lee Trevino Drive was fatally struck by a westbound pickup truck, according to KTSM. El Paso police said the preliminary contributing factor in that case was the pedestrian being in the roadway, though the circumstances that put the person there remained under investigation. All westbound lanes at Lee Trevino reopened the following morning once the scene was cleared.
The Texas Department of Transportation maintains a statewide Traffic Safety Data Portal, which it says draws on crash records to support efforts aimed at reducing crashes, injuries and fatalities on Texas roadways, according to TxDOT. In Orange, the identity of Friday's victim had not been released, and police continue to investigate what led up to the fatal collision.
