Joined
·
0 Posts
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/news/news01/sep01/850117.html
The Columbus Dispatch
Four people killed when car crashes during race on I-71
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Jill Riepenhoff
Dispatch Staff Reporter
A two-car race on I-71 in southern Delaware County turned deadly yesterday when one of the cars lost control, slammed into an embankment and burst into flames.
The crash killed the car's four occupants, all of whom appeared to be in their 20s.
Motorists who saw the two cars chasing each other southbound at speeds topping 100 mph rushed to help.
Grabbing fire extinguishers from their vehicles and shouting at other passers-by to do the same, the motorists battled a raging blaze until firefighters arrived.
Hailed as heroes by one Columbus police officer, the motorists could not prevent the carnage, however.
Last night, police were trying to identify the victims.
The other car involved in the race never stopped. Witnesses could offer police only a vague description: a dark-colored car with tinted windows.
"This is total, absolute destruction,'' police spokesman Sgt. Earl Smith said after he surveyed the wreckage along southbound I-71 just south of Polaris Parkway. "There's no excuse for this.''
Shortly before 4 p.m., one of the two cars lost control in the far left lane of the freshly paved freeway.
The car skidded about 400 feet across three southbound lanes of traffic, ripping away 10 yards of guardrail as it went off the right side of the road.
The car flipped, ejecting two victims into the dense brush of an embankment and trapping two others underneath.
Three victims died at the scene.
The fourth, an unidentified man tossed about 10 yards from the wreckage, died later at Riverside Methodist Hospitals.
Detective Mark Rice, an accident-reconstruction specialist, could not determine the gender of the three who died at the scene.
Rice picked through the charred remains of clothing yesterday in search of driver's licenses or other identification.
"We might have to use dental records,'' he said.
Because of the intense fire, investigators had difficulty even figuring out the make of the car. After he examined the hubcaps, Rice said he thought the car was an Infinity.
Amid the debris of spent fire extinguishers, twisted metal and scorched clothing, Rice started putting together what happened.
He knows the car was speeding excessively in the 65-mph zone.
"We're looking at triple-figure miles per hour,'' he said, based on the length of the skid marks and other factors.
The crash snarled traffic for hours on I-71, I-270 and Polaris Parkway.
On northbound I-71, motorists slowed to view the wreckage. One motorist looking across the median rammed into the rear end of another car. No injuries were reported.
The fatal crash incensed police.
"These kind of people are really dangerous to everyone. It's an outrage,'' Smith said. "People think they're safe in their vehicles. It's baloney. This is really a serious situation.'
Be smart, please!
The Columbus Dispatch
Four people killed when car crashes during race on I-71
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Jill Riepenhoff
Dispatch Staff Reporter
A two-car race on I-71 in southern Delaware County turned deadly yesterday when one of the cars lost control, slammed into an embankment and burst into flames.
The crash killed the car's four occupants, all of whom appeared to be in their 20s.
Motorists who saw the two cars chasing each other southbound at speeds topping 100 mph rushed to help.
Grabbing fire extinguishers from their vehicles and shouting at other passers-by to do the same, the motorists battled a raging blaze until firefighters arrived.
Hailed as heroes by one Columbus police officer, the motorists could not prevent the carnage, however.
Last night, police were trying to identify the victims.
The other car involved in the race never stopped. Witnesses could offer police only a vague description: a dark-colored car with tinted windows.
"This is total, absolute destruction,'' police spokesman Sgt. Earl Smith said after he surveyed the wreckage along southbound I-71 just south of Polaris Parkway. "There's no excuse for this.''
Shortly before 4 p.m., one of the two cars lost control in the far left lane of the freshly paved freeway.
The car skidded about 400 feet across three southbound lanes of traffic, ripping away 10 yards of guardrail as it went off the right side of the road.
The car flipped, ejecting two victims into the dense brush of an embankment and trapping two others underneath.
Three victims died at the scene.
The fourth, an unidentified man tossed about 10 yards from the wreckage, died later at Riverside Methodist Hospitals.
Detective Mark Rice, an accident-reconstruction specialist, could not determine the gender of the three who died at the scene.
Rice picked through the charred remains of clothing yesterday in search of driver's licenses or other identification.
"We might have to use dental records,'' he said.
Because of the intense fire, investigators had difficulty even figuring out the make of the car. After he examined the hubcaps, Rice said he thought the car was an Infinity.
Amid the debris of spent fire extinguishers, twisted metal and scorched clothing, Rice started putting together what happened.
He knows the car was speeding excessively in the 65-mph zone.
"We're looking at triple-figure miles per hour,'' he said, based on the length of the skid marks and other factors.
The crash snarled traffic for hours on I-71, I-270 and Polaris Parkway.
On northbound I-71, motorists slowed to view the wreckage. One motorist looking across the median rammed into the rear end of another car. No injuries were reported.
The fatal crash incensed police.
"These kind of people are really dangerous to everyone. It's an outrage,'' Smith said. "People think they're safe in their vehicles. It's baloney. This is really a serious situation.'
Be smart, please!
