One year after a deadly crash destroyed a bridge along I-95 in Philadelphia, federal investigators have made public a report that says gasoline spilled out from an unsecured hatch on top of the gasoline delivery tanker that overturned.
Investigators viewed video evidence showing that the cover of a 16-inch manhole had been open when driver Nathaniel Moody, 53, arrived at a Wilmington, Delaware, station to refill the tank, and it had not been properly secured when he drove away to deliver it to a convenience store 42 miles away, The Associated Press reports.
An “origin and cause” report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which was issued in September but made public late Wednesday, said the “combined opinion” of its investigators is “that the fire most likely originated when gasoline escaped” from the open manhole as the trailer overturned and nearly 2,500 gallons of mixed gasoline and ethanol began to spill out from a section of the tank and ignite.
“It’s so easy for them to throw the blame on the trucker in almost every accident that happens,” Moody’s cousin, Isaac Moody, who is also a truck driver, told the AP. “As soon as a trucker cannot defend themselves, they find all kinds of stuff.”
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The crash happened June 11, 2023. Authorities said a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline was traveling in the northbound lanes of the highway and was overturned while on a left-hand turn on an off-ramp. The crash caused gasoline to leak from the vehicle and catch fire.
A portion of I-95 that had collapsed after flames and smoke billowed near Cottman Avenue and State Road in Northeast Philadelphia was closed.
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A permanent bridge opened to traffic in November, and the highway returned to normal operations last month.
Moody lived in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and had been an owner-operator with a commercial driver’s license since 2003. His cause of death was determined to be “blunt trauma of head and Inhalation and thermal injuries,” and his manner of death was ruled an accident, Fox 29 Philly reported. His cousin Isaac Moody knew him to be a safety-conscious driver who stayed up with regulations and training requirements.
Fox News’ Stephen Sorace, Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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