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I-75 northbound in Pasco reopens after fatal crash

Staff photo by CHRIS COYNER

The crash closed northbound I-75 at State Road 56 for hours.

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By JOSÉ PATIÑO GIRONA | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2009

Updated: 10/23/2009 05:24 am

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Florida Highway Patrol has identified the drivers involved in a fatal crash that closed Interstate 75 for hours Thursday night. They have not released the name of the passenger who died, pending notification of kin.

The driver of a Toyota Tundra, 39-year-old Rajendra Ram of Ocklawaha, rear-ended a tractor-trailer carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel about 9 p.m. as both vehicles were traveling north near State Road 56, troopers said.

Ram was airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital with critical injuries. His passenger, a man, was killed in the crash.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 42-year-old Dionisio Lopez of Brandon, suffered minor injuries, troopers said.

Debris from the crash led to another vehicle crash, troopers said. The driver of a Chrysler van, 65-year-old John Heiby of St. Claisville, Ohio, was not injured.

Northbound I-75 at State Road 56 was closed for hours while troopers conducted their investigation and removed fuel from the tractor-trailer, which had a broken axle. Officials reopened it shortly after 12:30 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol Web site.

The fuel, which did not leak, was loaded to another tanker, and the tractor-trailer was towed.

The crash remains under investigation.

Editor's note: The amount of fuel was incorrectly reported on an earlier version of this story.

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