WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. — A man was killed Thursday morning in a crash on Interstate 95 near Palm Bay Road in West Melbourne, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
FHP said a tractor-trailer that was hauling a road construction excavator had a tire separation, causing the vehicle to crash through the south median guardrail on I-95.
Raw Video: I-95 tractor-trailer crash in West Melbourne
The excavator came off the trailer, traveled into the north lanes of I-95 and hit a truck.
Two other vehicles that were traveling north were struck with debris. Neither driver was injured.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, Douglas Platt, 48, was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The 59-year-old driver of the truck that the trailer crashed into died at the scene, FHP said. His name has not been released.
“I've ridden here for 20 years and I have never seen anything like this,” said resident Alberto Carulli. "It is a tragedy, you know, it's terrible."
Two other drivers in two other vehicles were struck by debris from the initial crash. They were not injured, troopers said.
The north lanes of I-95 had crash debris and diesel fuel on the road, and once the debris was cleared, engineers determined the road was safe to drive on, FHP said.
The north lanes were closed throughout Thursday afternoon, but reopened just after 8 p.m.
Update* southbound open, moving slowly. Northbound is closed until further notice. https://t.co/qYV5JNN5gf
— FHP Orlando (@FhpOrlando) June 30, 2016
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