THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 1994 TAG: 9408130293
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ASHLAND LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
The Virginia Department of Transportation said Friday that it will review warning signs near a construction site on southbound Interstate 95 after a crash in the area killed five members of a Florida family.
A tractor-trailer smashed into the rear of the family's Dodge conversion van, which was stopped along the highway at the approach to a repaving site, state police said. The crash occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday near Ashland, about 15 miles north of Richmond.
State police spokeswoman Mary Evans said Friday that the victims were Luz V. DeJesus, 44, Antonio J. Rivera, 12, Luz A. Cosme, 19, and Julio D. Diaz, all of Ocala. The fifth victim, Hector Gonzalez, lived in Orlando, Evans said.
Evans said the van was behind a tractor-trailer when another tractor-trailer struck the back end of the van, pushing the van into the truck in front of it.
The van was destroyed in a fire that heavily damaged both tractor-trailers.
No charges have been filed, Evans said.
Dallas Leach, 44, the driver of the truck that hit the van, was taken to the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond for treatment of burns, Evans said. A hospital spokeswoman said Leach was in stable condition Friday.
Ronald Gwin, 32, the driver of the other tractor-trailer, received minor injuries, Evans said.
Hometowns were not available for either truck driver.
VDOT spokesman Andy Farmer said the crash occurred on the approach to the construction site, where three lanes of traffic were being merged into one. Farmer said several warning signs and an electronic message board preceded the site, but the department will review the warnings to see if they are adequate.
An Ashland-to-Richmond paving project has been going on from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. since March, Farmer said.
Traffic was diverted onto nearby U.S. 1 until about 9:40 a.m. Friday, when the southbound lanes reopened. There was a three-mile traffic backup at one point during rush hour, Farmer said.
Northbound traffic was not affected. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A mass of wreckage is all that remains after a family van and two
tractor-trailers were involved in a crash on I-95 Thursday.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITIES ROAD CONSTRUCTION INJURIES by CNB