A driver was killed Wednesday night on Interstate 49 after one truck overturned and spilled its load of logs and three others crashed into one another and the logs.
Arkansas State Police said it happened about 10 p.m. as 48-year-old Mark W. Newswander of Harrison drove the 2013 Volvo carrying logs north on I-49 near the 57 mile marker, which is south of Fayetteville.
According to a report, the Volvo ran off the highway, returned to it and overturned, scattering the logs onto the interstate. A 2014 Freightliner traveling behind the Volvo slowed to avoid a collision and was then hit by a 2013 Mack truck behind it. The Mack truck was then rear-ended by a 2011 Peterbilt truck. Police said all three trucks behind the overturned one also hit the spilled logs.
The driver of the Peterbilt truck, 48-year-old Billy W. Kramer Jr. of Sparta, Wis., suffered fatal injuries. A passenger with him, 63-year-old Irene A. Kramer of Sparta, Wis., and Newswander, the driver of the log truck, were taken to Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. The extent of their injuries wasn't clear.
The other two drivers were not hurt.
It wasn't clear what initially caused the Volvo to leave the highway. Conditions at the time were said to be clear and dry.
The death was the 71st in a traffic crash in Arkansas so far this year, according to preliminary figures.