Three Killed in Illinois Truck Accident
June 11th, 2010 | 
Author: MATTOON, IL – Three people were killed Monday, May 31, 2010, in a truck accident in Coles County, Illinois. The deadly incident may have happened when the truck driver was distracted as he drove on Interstate 57 just north of the city of Mattoon. The accident area is in the central east section of the state, about 135 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri and about 65 miles west of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Local emergency teams responded to the scene of the semi truck accident and police arrived a few moments later. When they went to the SUV they found that three of the four women had received fatal injuries in the collision and were already dead.
On Monday evening at around 5:00 p.m., 55 year old Everett Van Duzee of New Iberia, Louisiana was driving his semi trailer truck north on Interstate 57 in Coles County, IL. He had just driven through Mattoon and was a few miles north of the city entering a construction zone on the interstate when the truck accident occurred.
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According to the Illinois State Police the interstate was going down to one lane, and several vehicles in front of Mr. Van Duzee’s semi trailer truck were attempting to merge over into the single lane. At that moment the truck driver reportedly got distracted and did not realize how fast he was coming up to the slower vehicles.
The semi trailer truck slammed into the first vehicle, a red Trailblazer, hit several others and set off a chain reaction accident that would end up involving nine vehicles.
One of the first vehicles hit was an SUV which authorities believe was driven by 58 year old Deborah Anne Faust of Sardis, Mississippi. Ms. Faust was traveling with three other women, her 80 year old mother Juanita Hall of Sarah, MS, her 61 year old sister Sheila Douglas of Batesville, MS, and a family friend 68 year old Doris Mayo of Sarah, MS. The women were on a trip to visit an Amish community in Illinois and had almost reached their destination when the truck accident occurred.
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After being rear-ended by the semi trailer truck, the SUV went off the road into the center grassy median and burst into flames.
A Chevrolet Equinox was another vehicle that was likely hit by the semi trailer truck. The collision with the 18 wheeler left the smaller vehicle almost completely destroyed. The vehicle was so crushed that some said it appeared to be overturned because it did not look like it was on wheels.
Local emergency teams responded to the scene of the semi truck accident and police arrived a few moments later. When they went to the SUV they found that three of the four women had received fatal injuries in the collision and were already dead.
The driver, Ms. Faust, was still alive but had sustained serious injuries including burns. Once free from the SUV, Ms. Faust was transported by medical helicopter to Memorial Medical Center in Springfield and was being treated in the burn unit.
Authorities were surprised to find two survivors in the crushed Equinox. An unidentified adult woman was transported to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. Her injuries are reportedly serious but not life threatening. An 11 year old girl crawled out of the destroyed vehicle and was reportedly walking around the scene of the truck accident. A man and a boy, who were traveling with the woman but in a separate car, were also involved in the chain reaction truck accident. It is not known if they were injured.
According to officials 13 people were injured in the truck accident, 8 taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Coles County and 5 taken to Carle. Two people sustained critical injuries.
The truck driver, Mr. Van Duzee, had minor injuries. He was taken to Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center where blood and urine samples were drawn for routine testing that follows a fatal accident. At this time officials do not believe drugs or alcohol were factors in the deadly truck accident.
Highway crews worked into the night removing wreckage from the scene while police conducted a reconstruction and other investigative operations. The interstate was reopened by 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.
No charges have been brought against the semi driver at this time and the truck accident remains under investigation.
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