Highway Patrol reports on I-57 accident that left five dead, 15 injured

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Missouri State Highway Patrol officials have released a report in the series of accidents on Interstate 57 last week that left five dead and 15 injured.

Reports of six deaths were widely reported Friday; however, the Highway Patrol confirmed only five deaths. Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker said communication in the aftermath of the chain-reaction crashes was difficult, adding "one that we thought he died, did not."

With the large number of vehicles and injuries involved, it took Patrol investigators several days to sort through all of the information.

The accident began at 8 a.m. Thursday on southbound I-57 at the 13.4-mile marker just outside of Charleston when a tractor-trailer driven by Jose Lopez-Ortiz, 39, of Laredo, Mexico, struck the rear of a tractor-trailer driven by Henry Donnerson, 57, of Memphis, Tennessee, causing a number crashes.

Lopez-Ortiz received serious injuries and was transported by ambulance to Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

Blake Lercher, 35, of White, Arkansas, a driver of one of the 17 vehicles involved in the accident at the southbound 13.4-mile marker, was flown by Air Evac to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis with serious injuries, while drivers of other vehicles -- Aeian Baird, 26, of Carterville, Illinois, and Orlando Matthews, 48, of Cairo, Illinois -- sustained minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, Missouri.

Another accident occurred at the northbound 13.4-mile marker on I-57, when a truck driven by Jose Hernandez, 45, of Houston struck the trailer being pulled by Terry Wheetley, 50, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Wheetley's vehicle was disabled from the prior crash. This led to another tractor-trailer, driven by Ronale Reider, 41, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, striking the rear of Hernandez's vehicle.

Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene by Parker.

Wheetley received serious injuries and was transported by Air Evac to Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Jorge Hernandez, 46, of Cleveland, Texas, a passenger in the vehicle driven by Jose Hernandez, and Reider were transported with minor injuries to Missouri Delta Medical Center by the New Madrid County (Missouri) Sheriff's Office.

At the southbound 13.6-mile marker another accident involving 13 vehicles occurred when a vehicle driven by Hossein Zolfaghar, 53, of Plano, Texas, struck the rear of a vehicle driven by Lorenzo Alarcon, 59, of Del Rio, Texas, causing a chain reaction of crashes.

William Ryan, 75, of Pevely, Missouri, was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:18 a.m. by Parker.

Also pronounced dead at the scene were Joshua Wiggins, 30, Candler, North Carolina, and Raina Jamerson, 22, of Kenosho, Wisconsin. Jesse Jimenez, 51, of Houston was transported by medical helicopter to Jenny Steward Hospital in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and later pronounced dead by Dr. Shea Godwin at 1:51 p.m.

Several people -- Timonikia Coburn, 24, of Kenosha, Wisconsin; Jamille Newson, 24, Browlingbrooke, Illinois; Michael Gibson, 53, of Effingham, Illinois; Steve Mammoser, 54, of Teutopolis, Illinois; Patrick Mammoser, 57, of Newton, Illinois and Douglas Mammoser, 60, of Teutopolis, Illinois -- were all taken by ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau with serious injuries.

Ollif Sasser, 46, of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Cleo Milan, 50, of Munster, Indiana, were taken by ambulance to Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston with minor injuries.

The crash closed I-57 for about 20 hours, reopening at about 5 a.m. Friday.

Sikeston DPS Capt. Derick Wheetley said he estimated as many as 150 or more first responders from the region gave aid. Responding agencies included 13 fire departments and nine EMS departments from Missouri and Illinois.

Regional Homeland Security Response Team, a hazmat and rescue team of first responders from Sikeston, Cape Girardeau and Jackson and emergency personnel from Butler, Stoddard, Scott, Mississippi and New Madrid counties responded to the scene.

Wheetley said he can't remember working an accident scene of this magnitude.

"Hopefully it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, and we don't see anything like it again," Wheetley said.

A thank you ceremony will be held Thursday to recognize emergency responders who assisted with incident management, recovery and clean-up efforts during the accident. The ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at the state Department of Transportation's Southeast District Office complex in Sikeston.

"This type of incident requires multiagency coordination and consistent communication," said Mark Croarkin, MoDOT Southeast District engineer. "From the first call we received to the reopening of Interstate 57, we appreciated so many agencies pulling together to assist during this unfortunate event."