Monday’s four-vehicle collision on I-24 near Eddyville that shut the interstate down for several hours claimed the lives of people from Hopkinsville and Cadiz.
Information from Kentucky State Police says 52-year-old Tara Rex of Hopkinsville and 42-year-old James Simmons of Cadiz were both passengers in a Honda Passport driven by 44-year-old Tiffany Anderson of Hopkinsville that was westbound on the interstate one mile east of Eddyville around 4:20.
Police say for an unknown reason, Anderson’s car veered into the lane of travel of an 18-wheeler driven by Tomas Almaguer-Martinez, of Mexico. The car sideswiped the truck and crossed the median into the eastbound lanes where it collided with two vehicles. One was a GMC Sierra driven by 42-year-old Tucker Heaton of Princeton. The other vehicle was an 18-wheeler operated by Dipen Tiwari, of Pickerington, Ohio.
Rex and Simmons were both ejected from their vehicle and died at the scene.
Anderson and one of her passengers — 49-year-old James Sanders of Hopkinsville — were taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries with Sanders’ injuries described as serious.
A fifth passenger in Anderson’s vehicle — 50-year-old Brian Holt of Cadiz — was not injured.
Two passengers in Heaton’s vehicle — 38-year-old Jordan Thomas and 56-year-old Kerry Orange — both of Princeton — were not injured.
The crash happened near a bridge one mile east of the Eddyville exit of I-24. The eastbound lanes of the interstate were closed for nearly seven hours as state police conducted its on-site investigation.
