A multi-vehicle crash in Livingston County has claimed the lives of three people and locked the westbound lanes of Interstate 24 for hours.
According to Kentucky State Police, preliminary investigation has revealed that a semi-truck operated by 24-year-old Mansur Kholikov of Brooklyn, New York was heading westbound on I-24 near the 32-mile-marker, where traffic was slowed due to a construction zone.
For reasons that remain under investigation, Kholikov allegedly did not slow with traffic and collided with multiple vehicles and causing secondary collisions. One of those vehicles burst into flames.
All three occupants of that vehicle, 68-year-old Saundra Dodd of Evansville and two children, were pronounced deceased at the scene.
Two occupants of other vehicles involved were flown by helicopter to hospitals for treatment of serious injuries, and still others went by ambulance to local hospitals. Kholikov was not injured.
Investigation continues by KSP, and multiple other law enforcement agencies, fire and rescue departments, EMS personnel and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet assisted at the scene.