Four-Vehicle Accident Closes Interstate

By: | NBC4i.com
Published: January 21, 2008

DELAWARE, Ohio – A multiple-vehicle accident shut down a portion of Interstate 71 at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

I-71 southbound was closed for two hours, just north of Polaris Parkway, on the north side of the city, NBC 4 reported.

A 1996 Ford Bronco and 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass both were traveling northbound, according to police reports. The Bronco slowed and attempted to merge into the left-hand lane when it was struck by the Cutlass. The Cutlass crossed the median and went into the southbound lanes of I-71 and was struck head-on by a 2007 Saturn Aura and then hit by a tractor-trailer, according to reports.

John Nelson, 62, was driving the tractor-trailer and was transported with 57-year-old Lisa Nelson to St. Ann’s Mount Carmel. Both are from Monett, Mont.

Abby Wilgus, 16, was driving the Cutlass and was taken to Riverside Hospital. Her passenger, Morgan Whitten, 16, was taken to OSU Medical Center by Med-Flight.

The driver of the Saturn, Mirium Durham, of Green Castle, Ind., was taken to Riverside. An infant in the Saturn was transported to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Emergency personnel from Orange Township and Columbus Fire were on the scene, and the crash remains under investigation.

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