One person was killed and another seriously injured when a semi-truck crashed on U.S. Highway 69 in southern Johnson County on Thursday morning.
The Kansas Highway Patrol said the crash happened at about 7:18 a.m. in the median of US-69, about 850 feet north of 207th Street.
According to the highway patrol’s crash log, a 2005 Peterbilt semi was driving north in the right lane of US-69 when the truck hit the bridge’s guard rail over 207th Street.
Troopers said the truck crossed both northbound lanes and entered the median, where it rolled onto its side and stopped facing east in the southbound lanes.
The semi-truck was carrying a water tank that detached from the truck in the crash and was about 50 feet north of the truck when emergency crews arrived.
Overland Park firefighters and Johnson County Med-Act paramedics arrived at the scene to report one vehicle with significant damage and two people trapped inside.
The driver of the truck, now identified by Troopers as Eugene Merrell, 48, of Tonganoxie, Kansas, died at the scene.
Firefighters worked for about 15 minutes to safely remove a passenger, a 28-year-old Ottawa, Kansas man, from the truck.
A Johnson County Med-Act ambulance transported the seriously injured passenger to an area hospital.
Troopers said both men were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.
The highway’s southbound lanes were closed at 199th Street as the highway patrol investigated the crash.
All lanes reopened shortly after 2:45 p.m.
