Local News
Tuesday morning accident claims two lives
A three-vehicle accident resulted in two fatalities Tuesday morning on I-57 at mile marker 165. According to Effingham County Coroner Leigh Hammer, a southbound Pepsi truck driven by Nick C. Ratcliffe, 24, of Altamont crossed the median and struck a transport van from Tri-County Detention Center, Ullin, resulting in the death of Ratcliffe and detention worker Cecil E. Haynes. Hammer pronounced Haynes and Ratcliffe dead at the scene at 9:10 a.m. According to Hammer, Ratcliffe is originally from the Olney area and Haynes was from Pulaski County in southern Illinois.
According to information from WSIL-TV in Carterville, the detention van was struck once by the Ratcliffe’s truck, then struck by a second truck. Officers in the detention van were enroute to pick-up inmates in the Effingham area. A second officer in the van, Jeremony Swartzell, was injured and transported for treatment.
According to Hammer, Illinois State Police District 12 is investigating the accident and had a reconstructionist surveying the scene today. No additional information was available from the ISP at presstime.
Tony Huffman can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 135 or tony.huffman@effinghamdailynews.com.
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