Accident closes roadway

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Interstate 70 was closed for several hours Monday after a tractor-trailer slammed into bridge supports, killing the driver, authorities said.

Charles N. Tony, 57, of Kansas City, died at University Hospital from injuries he suffered after his International tractor-trailer, which was traveling eastbound on I-70, hit the westernmost center bridge support under the Stadium Boulevard interchange shortly before 2 a.m.

Lyn Woolford, a traffic officer for the Columbia Police Department, said the impact of the crash sheered the cab of the truck from its frame, sending it into the westbound lanes of the interstate under the interchange.

Tony was trapped inside the cab, and it took firefighters from the Columbia Fire Department about 15 minutes to free him.

Woolford said no other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Crews closed I-70 because of concerns about the integrity of the bridge. A similar accident Dec. 20 closed westbound lanes of I-70 near Boonville. Westbound traffic was down to just one lane until Jan. 11.

In that accident, a tractor-trailer slammed into an overpass support at the 110-mile marker, breaking one column and sheering another. The truck's driver was killed.