CLEVELAND — The driver of a tractor-trailer is dead after crashing and overturning the vehicle on Interstate 71 in Richland County Friday night, troopers said.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, troopers received a report of the crash on I-71 just north of the State Route 97 exit in Bellville at about 11:53 p.m.
When troopers arrived they found the tractor-trailer on fire off the east side of the road.
The highway patrol's initial investigation found the semi-truck was driving northbound on I-71 when it veered off the right side of the road and hit a guardrail and a light pole. The tractor-trailer then "continued down a steep embankment and overturned, where it caught fire," troopers said.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers are not identifying the driver at this time.
