CHICAGO A 64-year-old truck driver from Michigan has been cited for negligent driving after ramming his semitrailer into a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train station, killing two women and injuring 21 other people.
Chicago police said Donald Wells of Metamora, Mich., received the traffic ticket Sunday but their investigation into the crash was ongoing. No court date was immediately available.
Police said Wells is 64 years old, not 51 as previously reported. A message seeking comment was left Monday at a telephone listing for Wells in Michigan.
The accident occurred during the Friday afternoon rush hour at the Cermak CTA stop, which serves the city’s Chinatown neighborhood south of downtown.
Most of the 21 injured had been either in the bus shelter underneath the elevated train or in the stairwell, said fire department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. The two women killed died at the scene, she said.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the dead women as Elosia Guerrero, 47, and Delisia Brown, 18. At least three people remained hospitalized Sunday at Mount Sinai Hospital, and all were reported in fair condition.
Wells was briefly hospitalized after his truck careered off an expressway. Police said a blood-alcohol test administered at the hospital was negative.
The crash was captured by at least one CTA surveillance camera, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said. The footage has been turned over to police, who were examining it in an attempt to learn why the truck came off a nearby expressway ramp at an apparently high rate of speed and whether it failed to stop at a traffic light seconds before the crash.
The truck was operated by Plymouth, Mich.-based Whiteline Express Ltd., the company confirmed. A company spokeswoman declined to comment.
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