Two people were taken to the hospital after an accident Tuesday morning on Interstate 75. Their vehicle was mangled beneath a large truck, but the driver and passenger somehow survived.
East Ridge Fire/Rescue and Police responded at approximately 9:03 a.m. to Interstate 75 northbound in reference to a crash with entrapment. A Ford pick-up was entering the interstate when the driver lost control. The truck collided with the center wall before a box truck also traveling north on I-75 became entangled with the Ford truck. The two vehicles came to a rest under the Ringgold Road overpass.
The Ford pick-up was so badly mangled that firefighters utilized the “Jaws-of- Life” to extricate the driver. It required more than 20 minutes of heavy work before firefighters were able to free the trapped driver.
The driver was removed from the truck with non-life threatening injuries. The driver and a passenger of the box truck along with the driver of the Ford pick-up were transported to Erlanger Medical Center by Memorial EMS.
Catoosa County Sheriff's deputies assisted East Ridge Police by closing two outside lanes of travel on I-75 at the state line while first responders treated the injured and investigated the crash.