Ohio Turnpike closed following fatal crash Monday morning

ELMORE — A Cleveland-area woman was killed Monday morning on the Ohio Turnpike when a tractor-trailer crashed through the median barrier in a construction zone and struck her vehicle, which then caught fire, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported.

The turnpike’s eastbound lanes were closed for more than five hours following the crash in Sandusky County’s Washington Township, which was reported at 9:49 a.m. and also involved an eastbound tractor-trailer. It occurred in an area about two miles east of the State Rt. 51 interchange near Elmore where bridge repairs currently block the westbound lanes and two lanes of westbound traffic are crossed over to the eastbound side.

Samantha Smith, 35, of Chardon, Ohio, was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers from the state patrol’s Milan post said. Timothy Moulton, 58, of Toledo, who drove the truck that troopers said triggered the collision, was seriously injured and flown to Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.

The patrol’s report said Mr. Moulton’s rig, a tractor and dump trailer, went off the travel lanes to the right and struck a barrier wall, then caromed across the westbound lanes and plowed through a temporary median wall and entered the eastbound lanes, where it collided with the Ford Escape that Ms. Smith drove.

Mr. Moulton’s truck then hit a guardrail on the far side of the eastbound lanes before striking an eastbound tractor-trailer driven by Keo S. Thach, 43, of Countryside, Ill., who was not injured.

The turnpike’s eastbound lanes reopened about 3:20 p.m. Until then, traffic was forced off at I-280/State Rt. 420 in Wood County and directed to use Route 420, U.S. 20, and State Rt. 53 to bypass the crash scene. The Elmore entrance also was closed.