Fatal Crashes in Greenville Area Saturday; Local Person Among Those Killed (UPDATED FOR NAME OF LOCAL RESIDENT KILLED)

Two crashes resulting in fatalities occurred on eastbound Interstate 70 in Bond County Saturday evening.

The first crash happened at 4:30pm, west of Greenville. Illinois State Police report a semi and a SUV collided. One person was killed in that crash. The eastbound lanes were reopened about 9pm Saturday.

While the investigation into that crash was ongoing, a second crash occurred at 8:03pm in the eastbound lanes about two miles farther west. That crash involved two truck-tractor semitrailers and a pickup truck hauling a livestock trailer carrying horses. One driver was airlifted from the scene with what authorities termed life-threatening injuries. A passenger in a second vehicle was transported to an area hospital, where they died from their injuries.

As a result of the second crash, traffic was diverted onto US Route 40; all lanes of Interstate 70 were reopened at approximately 3:05am Sunday.

A local resident, 66-year-old Gary Bartels of St. Elmo, was fatally injured in one of the crashes involving his pickup truck and trailer that contained several horses. Bartels was taken to SSM St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri where he died of his injuries at 10:11pm Sunday.