Area 40 18 Wheeler crashes in to the Kanawha
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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.
 
“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.