Delaware State Police are investigating a fatal motor vehicle collision involving two work trucks that occurred in the Smyrna area yesterday morning.
Officials said on April 26, 2023, at approximately 11:43 a.m., a 2021 International Box Truck was northbound on Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway (Route 1) in the right lane north of Exit 114. At the time, a 2018 International Flatbed Truck was stopped on the northbound right shoulder of Route 1 north of Exit 114. The operator of the stopped flatbed truck was outside of the vehicle when the operator of the box truck fell asleep and drifted off the east edge of the roadway officials said. The front of the box truck struck the left rear of the flatbed truck. The operator of the flatbed truck was also struck during the collision. The box truck then swerved to the left traveling across both northbound lanes of Route 1 and off the west edge of the roadway, where it struck a guardrail with its left front bumper in the grass median.
The operator of the box truck, a 24-year-old male from Ranson, West Virginia was transported to an area hospital for minor injuries. There was a 57-year-old male front-seat passenger from Baltimore, Maryland in the box truck who was pronounced deceased at the scene. Identification of the victim is pending notification to the next of kin.
The operator of the flatbed truck, a 60-year-old male from Somerset, New Jersey was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
Northbound Route 1 was closed for approximately four and a half hours while the collision was investigated, and the roadway was cleared.
