Wausau Pilot & Review
Three people are dead after a crash Monday between a semi tractor trailer and a Jeep Cherokee, according to the Wisconsin State Patrol.
The crash was reported just after 3:30 p.m. near Friendship. Traffic was detoured from the crash scene for more than four hours.
Police say a 74-year-old Illinois man was driving northbound on County Hwy. Z when he stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of Hwy. 21. The driver, whose name has not been released, pulled slowly forward onto Hwy. 21 when he was struck by an eastbound semi traveling at full speed.
The 37-year-old Florida man driving the semi swerved to avoid the Jeep but was unable to avoid striking the front left corner of the vehicle. The semi veered into the westbound ditch and rolled onto its right side.
Metal debris from the crash also flew into an unoccupied Ford Explorer that was parked at a gas station, police said.
A medical helicopter was paged to the scene, but both drivers and a 68-year-old Illinois woman who was a passenger in the Jeep all perished in the crash. All names are being withheld pending notification of family members.
The Wisconsin State Patrol is investigating and reconstructing the crash.
