COLUMBUS – It was a blown tire on a dump truck that caused a deadly multi-vehicle accident on the South Outerbelt Monday afternoon that kept the freeway closed for most of the afternoon rush-hour.
UPDATE: 6/5/19 8:40 a.m.: The deceased driver has been identified as Robert Williams, 47, of Grove City.
Charles Reichard, of Johnstown, was driving the 2016 Kenworth dump truck westbound on I-270, west of Alum Creek Drive, at 2:26 p.m. when the left front tire blew apart, causing the vehicle to go out of control and cross the grass median, through the cable barrier, into the eastbound lanes where it struck three vehicles, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said.
One of the vehicles Reichard’s truck hit was an International box truck, which rolled off the south side of the roadway, Baldwin said. The driver of the box truck died at Grant Medical Center. The driver’s name was still being withheld late Monday until his family is notified, Baldwin said.
Reichard, 56, was listed in critical condition at Grant Medical Center, Baldwin said.
The dump truck also hit a 2018 Ford E350, driven by Jordan Daniels, of Reynoldsburg, and a 2017 Toyota Camry, driven by Reenu Bhagnani, of Columbus, Baldwin said. Bhagnani and her passengers — Dushant Lohano, Kabir Bhagnani, and Alisha Bhanani — were all transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in stable condition, Baldwin said.
Daniels was uninjured.
Baldwin says there was no indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor in this crash and he says it appeared everyone except for Reichard was wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash.
The accident remains under investigation.