Dump truck, ODOT vehicle explode after Summit County crash on I-77 (video)

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Several lanes were blocked on I-77 in Summit County from just after 7:00 A.M. until just afternoon following a crash and explosion on Thursday morning.

According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, a dump truck traveling I-77 north struck an Ohio Department of Transportation vehicle that was on the shoulder just before 7:30 a.m. just a few miles north of the Akron Canton Airport in Green.

The crash resulted in an explosion, the sheriff’s office said. Both vehicles then caught fire.

Deputies and first responders arrived to the scene, and rescued both drivers from their vehicles, and transported them to an area hospital.

According to the sheriff’s office, the driver of the dump truck suffered life-threatening injuries. The Ohio Department of Transportation said their driver was seriously injured, but the injuries are not considered life-threatening.

“Our highway worker, better yet, our brother, a husband, a father and a grandfather suffered serious injuries but it is nothing short of a miracle that he survived,” said Gery Noirot the O.D.O.T. District 4 Deputy Director.

The video shows the dump truck driver veering off the road, directly at the ODOT truck, and the driver never appears to try and steer out of the accident and never appears to break.

The ODOT worker was on his way to pick up a piece of equipment when he stopped on the side of the road to pick up some trash that he had noticed when his one ton truck was hit from behind.

“We’ll let the Summit County Sheriff’s office do their investigation to determine what happened this morning but what I can tell you is I hear, far too often, from our folks is that they see drivers paying attention to things other than the road way and this has to stop,” Noirot said.

Last year, across the state, 154 ODOT workers, or ODOT equipment was hit by drivers on Ohio highways but already in 2022 there have been 82 instances of crews hit by Ohio drivers.

Delays on I-77 north stretched out of Summit County into Stark County.

This is a developing story.

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