Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Human remains were recovered this morning from a fallen overpass on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia as crews removed concrete debris from the site of a fiery weekend highway collapse that closed a stretch of one of the busiest traffic corridors along the U.S. East Coast.
The section of I-95 was shut down in both directions after a tanker truck hauling gasoline caught fire yesterday, causing the concrete to buckle and collapse. Authorities have not said precisely how the fuel was ignited.
As excavation teams labored to clear rubble from the site on Monday, a body was recovered from the wreckage and turned over to the Philadelphia County Medical Examiner for identification, state police said in a statement.
The truck driver, Nathaniel Moody, had been unaccounted for in the immediate aftermath of the accident, local ABC affiliate WPVI-TV reported.
During the morning commute, local traffic reporters said bumper-to-bumper traffic was spotted near the collapse and along alternate routes, but it appeared that some motorists heeded the warnings to take public transportation or stay home.
“Things are obviously getting worse moving into the heart of rush hour,” KYW News Radio traffic reporter Justin Drabick said around 8 a.m. EST (1200 GMT).
He noted that Mondays were typically a light traffic day. “Tomorrow is really going to be the true test.”
Workers and investigators spent the morning and early afternoon surveying the damage at the scene as an excavator clawed through the rubble and moved massive pieces of concrete where the section of highway once stood.
