A trucker from Illinois was killed Saturday night in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 in the southern Panhandle not far from Sidney. A resulting chemical spill closed the freeway into Sunday.
Cheyenne County Attorney/Coroner Paul Schaub says 42-year old Mohammad Pirzad of Buffalo Grove was pronounced dead at the scene near Potter.
Cheyenne County Sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of the accident found the cab and trailer of a semi blocking both westbound lanes with Pirzad dead inside the cab.
Witnesses told deputies the truck was traveling about 70 mph when it drifted onto the grass shoulder, then continued on the shoulder for a distance before Pirzad turned sharply back onto the pavement.
That caused the tractor and trailer to tip onto the passenger side. The witnesses said they never saw the truck’s brake lights come on.
Another witness told deputies he went up to the windshield of the cab and saw Pirzad on the passenger door. He and another person then broke the windshield to get a better look, then concluded Pirzad was dead.
County Attorney Schaub says the truck was hauling a load of chemicals that spilled in the crash. Those chemicals included acetone, isopropanol alcohol, ethanol, and ammonia. Hazard mitigation and cleanup last well into Saturday.