Two Rear-End Semi Crashes on Eastbound I-70 Friday Morning

Two semis collided at 7:44am Friday on Eastbound I-70, two miles west of Montrose.

State Police reported both units were traveling eastbound. A rig driven by 30-year-old Billy Thompson of Brookhaven, Mississippi slowed due to an earlier crash and was rear-ended by a rig driven by 24-year-old Navpreet Kataria of Mississauga, Ontario.

A passenger in Kataria's rig, Jugvinder Singh of Brampton, Ontario, was injured and was taken for treatment.

The earlier crash is the one we reported on Friday. That crash happened at 5:25am about a mile west of Effingham.

Police say a rig driven by 51-year-old Mehic Mirsad of Arnold, Missouri rear-ended a semi driven by 72-year-old Shahram Pourfahimi of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Mirsad was airlifted from the scene and taken to a regional hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

The interstate was finally re-opened to one-lane traffic about 9am and both lanes were open within another hour.