One killed in six-vehicle accident on Interstate 55

Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sikeston DPS crews and Sikeston DPS Hazmat Team are seen at Interstate 55 near the 64 mile marker working a tractor trailer fire and explosion involving two semis Saturday evening.
Facebook/Sikeston Professional Firefighters Association

NEW MADRID, Mo. — One person was killed and another injured in an accident Saturday evening involving six vehicles on Interstate 55 in New Madrid County.

The accident occurred at 5:05 p.m. Saturday on southbound I-55 at the 64.4 mile marker when a semi driven by Kenneth Alford of Melbourne, Fla., began sliding and struck another semi, driven by Gabriel Calin, 33, of Woodridge, Ill. The collision caused both vehicles to catch fire as Alford’s truck continued off the roadway, striking a vehicle driven by Clyde Griffin, 65, of Matthews, Mo., and hitting six cable barrier posts.

After Griffin’s vehicle was struck by the semi, it then struck the rear of a vehicle driven by Rodney Sullivan, 45, of Sikeston and the rear of another vehicle, driven by Corey Pryor, 48, of Memphis, Tenn. The impact caused Pryor’s vehicle to hit the rear of a vehicle driven by Kenneth Francis of Hernando, Miss.

A passenger in Griffin’s car, Carolyn Farrenburg, 63, of Matthews, Mo., was taken by Air Evac to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where she was treated for serious injuries.

Alford was pronounced dead at the scene by New Madrid County Coroner George DeLisle at 6 p.m. He is the 39th fatality in Troop E in 2018.

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