Trucker killed in I-57 crash

BENTON -- Illinois State Police are investigating a chain-reaction crash that killed a Minnesota truck driver on Interstate 57 in southern Illinois.

Authorities say 39-year-old Lawrence Rich of Montgomery, Minn., died at the scene of the four-vehicle, Franklin County crash about 4 p.m. Tuesday on northbound I-57 between Benton and Sesser.

Investigators say Rich's vehicle slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer that was stopped behind other traffic near road construction, sending the large, steel pipe Rich was hauling into the cab of his vehicle.

One of the other truck drivers was taken to a hospital for injuries not considered life-threatening.

The freeway's southbound lanes were closed over a six-mile stretch for about three hours. The northbound lanes were reopened about 2 a.m. Wednesday.