It’s like deja vu all over again!
According to KGW8, not one, but two big rigs splashed into the Columbia River after veering off I-84. The Oregon State Police reported that the two accidents happened just a couple hours apart at nearly the exact same spot.
The first incident happened around 9 p.m. on August 25. The semi was hauling two trailers when it crashed into an empty vehicle parked on the side of the highway. The accident sent the big rig through the guardrail and plummeting into the river below. Thankfully, the trucker was able to escape the cab and swim to safety.
About three hours later, in the early morning of August 26, a second semi came driving down I-84. By then, the Oregon Department of Transportation was responding to the first accident. The second big rig, hauling two empty tanker trailers, slammed into a DOT vehicle and soared into the water. Investigators said that the second crash was likely due to the driver falling asleep at the wheel. Luckily, the second trucker was uninjured as well.
As removal efforts commenced on August 28, I-84 was closed for most of the morning. By mid-afternoon, two trucks and four trailers were removed from the water.
See photos from Oregon DOT below:
I-84 WB at Biggs Junction, MP 103, is closed this morning to recover two semi-trucks that crashed and went into the Columbia River over the weekend. We’ll share pictures throughout the day. https://t.co/SsqxkwGpZQ for detours. More info on the closure: https://t.co/Cxm0vnGbF2 pic.twitter.com/BnHWzRaE2k
— OregonDOT (@OregonDOT) August 28, 2023
