JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Two people died after a semi tanker truck overturned on a western Michigan highway early Sunday and was struck by another vehicle, authorities said.
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said the tanker truck and the vehicle that hit it were fully engulfed in flames when deputies arrived on the scene along Michigan-6 in Jamestown Township, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Grand Rapids. Deputies were unable to to reach the victims until the fire was extinguished, the sheriff's office said. Once the fire was out they found one occupant in each vehicle, who were pronounced dead at the scene. Their identities were being withheld pending notification of family.
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The sheriff's office said the semi was traveling westbound around 5:25 a.m. when it drifted off the south side of the roadway, then corrected and overturned. The other westbound vehicle then struck the tanker trailer of the semi.
The county's hazmat team responded to help clean up the spill of a petroleum product that the tanker was carrying, the sheriff's office said. But they said westbound Michigan-6 will remain closed for an undetermined amount of time for accident investigation, roadway cleanup and a safety assessment.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them.
Read more: Michigan headlines