What's New
Highway 121 Crash Leaves Burning Semi Dangling from Bridge
Published : Thursday, 08 Apr 2010, 1:59 PM CDT
By Kevin Boie | MYFOXDFW.COM
DALLAS - Several vehicles crashed on Highway 121 in Carrollton on Thursday, leaving a burning semi hanging off a bridge and backing up traffic for miles.
Update: NTTA Releases Explosive Crash Video
The incident happened at about 1:20 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the highway, known as the Sam Rayburn Tollway, near Interstate 35E.
The semi, hauling about 40,000 pounds of frozen chicken, was taking a ramp from northbound 35E to eastbound 121 when it was struck by a North Texas Tollway Authority dump truck, officials said.
The semi jackknifed and was then hit by a pickup truck, they said.
A fire erupted at some point during the crash, igniting and destroying all three vehicles. The cab of the semi could be seen, still attached to the rig, dangling over a bridge. However, the driver had been able to escape the wreckage.
The blaze sent plumes of black smoke hundreds of feet into the air before firefighters doused the flames.
One person was transported to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Cleanup was expected to take several hours and likely affect the evening rush hour commute.
According to the NTTA, all northbound lanes of the tollway and two southbound lanes remained closed. The entrance ramp from northbound I-35 to northbound SRT was also closed, it said.