More details have been released about an accident on Route 125 from Thursday, July 23rd that closed the highway for nearly 4 hours.
The Cass County Star Gazette reports that the Illinois State Police reports indicate that 28 year old Kendall Eastin of Jacksonville was traveling westbound on Route 125 in her Kia Sorento when it ran off the northside of the highway at approximately 11:48AM. Eastin appears to have over-corrected and crossed the center line and crossed into the path of a 2011 International Semi tractor trailer driven by 50 year old Michael Thomas of East Peoria striking nearly head-on. The Sorento bounced off the semi, passed through the westbound lane, overturned and came to rest on its driver’s side. The semi ran off the south side of the highway and caught fire.
Eastin had to be extracted from the vehicle. A male juvenile, indicated as Eastin’s son, was able to free himself from the vehicle. Both were airlifted from the scene. Thomas was able to free himself from his own vehicle before it was completely destroyed by fire. State Police reports indicate that he was transported via ambulance to a Springfield hospital.
The crash closed off Route 125 for 3 and a half hours and traffic was re-routed. One lane of traffic was eventually restored at 3:30PM last Thursday. Traffic remained restricted to one lane until approximately 9PM that night while crews removed wreckage.
Virginia Fire & Rescue responded to the scene and knocked down the fire at the scene. They were called back a few hours later after contents of the semi reignited.
According to police reports, Eastin has been cited for improper lane usage in the incident.