TUESDAY NIGHT ACCIDENT SHUTS DOWN INTERSTATE 55

Northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 55 were closed late Tuesday night near Center Junction between Cape Girardeau and Jackson following a multiple vehicle accident that involved a tractor-trailer carrying a hazardous and potentially flammable chemical.

A police source said serious injuries were involved.

Information was scarce at 11 p.m. as police contacted hazardous material crews to help clean up the spill, rerouted traffic, and attempted to reach the chemical company to find out what exactly they were dealing with.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old Charleston woman was injured Tuesday in a two-vehicle accident near Benton.

Cindy Rowe was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after the 12:25 p.m. accident on Highway 77, two miles south of Benton.

The driver of the other vehicle, Victoria Ligonis, 17, of Cape Girardeau was not injured.

TheMissouri Highway Patrol said the accident occurred as Ligonis' vehicle attempted to make a left turn and then struck Rowe's northbound vehicle as it passed. Rowe's vehicle then left the east side of the roadway, overturned in a ditch and struck a tree, the patrol said.