Fatal crash shuts I-30 for 4 hours; pile-up kills trucker, driver of van

A work van is loaded on a wrecker Tuesday evening after a fatal four-vehicle accident on Interstate 30 near mile-marker 3 in Texarkana. (Photo by Evan Lewis /Texarkana Gazette)
A work van is loaded on a wrecker Tuesday evening after a fatal four-vehicle accident on Interstate 30 near mile-marker 3 in Texarkana. (Photo by Evan Lewis /Texarkana Gazette)

A chain-reaction accident on Interstate 30 involving three tractor-trailers and a van killed two people and injured two others Tuesday, authorities said.

Arkansas State Police also reported at least two people died Tuesday in motorcycle crashes.

In the I-30 crash, eastbound traffic stopped about 5 p.m., but a Mack truck failed to stop near the intersection with Interstate 49 in Texarkana and crashed into the back of a Kenworth truck, according to a preliminary state police report.

That pushed the Kenworth truck into a 2011 GMC van, which pushed the van into a Freightliner truck, state police said.

[FATAL WRECKS: Complete coverage of deadly crashes in Arkansas]

The Mack truck's driver, Allan Hanson, 65, of Antigo, Wis., and the driver of the van, Telesforo Hernandez, 52, of Mesa, Ariz., were killed, the report said.

Two passengers in the Freightliner -- Jose Luis of Alexander and Wilson Enrique Pacheo of Little Rock, whose ages were not listed -- were injured and taken to hospitals, according to the report.

The Texarkana fire and police departments responded to the crash alongside state police, the Texarkana Gazette reported.

The wreck closed the eastbound lanes of a half-mile section of I-30 for nearly four hours, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

The Texarkana Gazette reported that traffic on I-30 was backed up for miles, and three other vehicle wrecks happened within a few miles of the fatal crash.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a 53-year-old Hamburg man died when the motorcycle he was riding crashed off Arkansas 7 in Perry County, state police said.

It happened about 3:20 a.m. as James Anderson was riding a 2002 Harley-Davidson on the highway about 3 miles north of Hollis, according to a state police report.

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The motorcycle reportedly veered out of control on a curve near Forest Road 210 before traveling off the road and hitting a sign.

Anderson died at the scene.

A 58-year-old Moro man also died Tuesday morning when his motorcycle crashed into a ditch near Brinkley, the state police reported.

It happened shortly before 8 a.m. as Gary Don Wheeler was riding a 2007 Honda on Arkansas 238 east of Brinkley, according to the report.

The motorcycle crossed the centerline, left the highway and hit the ditch bank, the report said. Wheeler suffered fatal injuries.

The report didn't specify what may have caused the motorcycle to leave the highway.

The weather was clear and roads were dry at the time of all three crashes, the state police said.

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Metro on 09/28/2017

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