Lost one of our guys yesterday that was looking at a diesel spill from a big truck wreck.He had worked here for 22 years.another two guys ran and were missed by three ft.
UPDATE: A construction worker hit and killed by a jackknifed tractor-trailer rig just east of Sweetwater has been identified as Jesus Vicente Enriquez, 62, of San Angelo.
Enriquez was in the median between the eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 and the service road when he was hit by the sliding vehicle.
The DPS reported the driver of the truck, Joseph Michael Foster, 39, of Phoenix lost control of his vehicle and it jackknifed on the wet road.
The accident happened about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, a half-mile east of Sweetwater.
ORIGINAL STORY: An 18-wheeler crash that killed a construction worker in Sweetwater on Interstate 20 was the sixth wreck within a one-mile stretch Wednesday morning, said Sweetwater Fire Chief Grant Madden.
“I think it started just before 7:30 a.m. or 8 a.m.,” he said of the string of accidents, all involving tractor-trailer rigs.
The man was a contractor for a paving company, who was surveying damage from a previous wreck, the fire chief said.
“He was standing in the median looking at a diesel spill (that) they were going to get the stuff to clean up,” Madden said. “Nobody else was there at the time, their truck was parked on the access road. A truck lost control due to the slick pavement and crashed and ran over him.”
The man was declared dead at the scene.
No one else was injured, Madden said.
“There were two construction workers standing there when they looked up and saw the truck coming,” Madden said. “One went north and one went south, and I don’t know which one was able to clear. But they were all very obviously upset. He was wearing his vest, he was well off the interstate.”
The multitude of accidents occurred with a mile from the highway’s east interchange to the Farm Road 1856 cutoff.
“All of them have involved 18-wheelers,” Madden said. “Empty 18-wheelers, or lightweight, seem to be having the most problems. We had one roll-over, a bobtail truck, just a tractor with no trailer, and he actually rolled his truck completely over. We had to extricate him – he had minor injuries, but he was stuck in the truck.”
Madden said the road was wet, but not icy.
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