Update: As of 1:30 pm, all lanes of traffic on westbouund Interstate 270 across the Chain of Rocks bridge were open. Both eastbound lanes remain closed.
Update: As of 10:45 am, crews had re-opened one lane of Interstate 270 traveling westbound across the Chain of Rocks bridge. All eastbound lanes remain closed.
A man trying to push his disabled car out of traffic on the Chain of Rocks bridge Wednesday morning is dead after being struck by a tractor trailer.
St. Louis police say the accident happened around 5 am Monday on the eastbound lanes of the bridge, which carries Interstate 270 over the Mississippi River north of St. Louis.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police got a call about 4:30 am about a stranded motorist. But Lt. Carlos Ross, the department's commander of traffic safety, says the caller accidentally told them to go to Riverview and Interstate 70, rather than 270.
According to the paper:
Dispatchers then got the next call -- at the real location -- for an accident with injuries. Getting the wrong location early on meant a delay for police of 10 to 20 minutes, Ross said.
The truck apparently swerved in an attempt to avoid the man, say police, but struck and killed him instead. The tractor trailer then crashed into the median and burst into flames.
Police say the driver remained on the scene and refused treatment.
One lane of traffic going westbound from Illinois could open shortly. The eastbound lanes, where the accident happened, are likely to be closed until early afternoon.
