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Area 40 18
Wheeler crashes in to the Kanawha
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One man died and another was in
critical condition Monday night after their tractor-trailer
plunged over the side of the Interstate 64 bridge near Fort Hill
in Charleston and into the Kanawha River early Monday.
Husen M. Awad and Phillip Chaizo,
both of Columbus, Ohio, were in the Kanawha River about 25 minutes
before rescuers pulled them out, said Charleston Police Sgt. Shawn
Williams.
Awad later died at CAMC General
Hospital. Chaizo was listed in critical condition late Monday.
The west-bound lanes of MacCorkle
Avenue were expected to be closed through this morning while crews
pulled the rig out of the water and cleared debris. The east-bound
lanes were reopened Monday evening, according to a Kanawha County
911 dispatcher.
Charleston firefighters used
boats and scuba gear to reach the victims. They performed CPR on
the driver and both were ferried upriver toward CAMC’s General
Hospital.Chaizo, who police believe was driving the vehicle, was
submerged in the water when he was found. Awad was in the sleeping
compartment and had air to breathe, Williams said. When rescuers
reached him, his head was above the water and he was conscious and
talking.
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“The water was cold, the water was
swift — very murky,” said Charleston Fire Lt. Mark Strickland, one of
the rescuers.
Charleston Police Cpl. M.L. Null was
the first on the scene and immediately ran down the brush-covered
riverbank and
dived in, attempting to reach the
tractor-trailer. He was soon swept up in the Kanawha’s fast moving
current and pulled downstream. Null said he couldn’t see inside the
cabin because of the fog hanging low on the cold river.
“In a minute I was numb,” he said.
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