2 Young Children Among 5 Dead In Chemical Crash Downstate

TEUTOPOLIS, IL — The five people — including two young children — who died in connection with a tanker crash and anhydrous ammonia leak over the weekend in Effingham County were identified Sunday, according to reports.

The victims are 7-year-old Rosie Bryan and 10-year-old Walker Bryan, both from Beecher City; their father, 34-year-old Kenneth Bryan of Teutopolis; 31-year-old Vasile Cricovan of Twinsburg, Ohio, and 67-year-old Danny J. Smith, of New Haven, Missouri, the Herald & Review reported.

All five died as a result of anhydrous ammonia exposure, according to WCIA, citing a preliminary coroner’s investigation.

A tanker truck was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia when it jackknifed Friday night, and hit a utility trailer parked just off the highway, according to Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. The crash may have started when another vehicle tried to pass the chemical-laden truck, he said.

The tank carrying anhydrous ammonia hit the trailer hitch, which punched a six-inch hole in the chemical container, Chapman said during a news conference Sunday.

Chapman said the tanker truck's driver pulled to the right and ran off the road while traveling west on U.S. 40 in Teutoplis, a small community about 110 miles northeast of St. Louis.

The accident occurred about 8:40 p.m. local time, Chapman said, revising the 9:25 p.m. time authorities originally gave. The crash spilled roughly half the truck's 7,500-gallon load. The rest was drained and moved to a "secure location" for the NTSB's investigation, authorities said late Saturday, as area residents were allowed to return to their homes after being evacuated.

About 500 residents within a 1-mile radius of the crash site were evacuated after the accident, including northeastern parts of Teutopolis.

Five people were airlifted for medical treatment and are in stable condition, including an 18-year-old woman from Lake Elmo, Minnesota; an 18-year-old woman from Dallas, Texas; a 19-year-old man from Olathe, Kansas; a 24-yer-old man from Brownstown; and a 61-year-old from Union, Missouri, according to WCIA.

Emergency crews worked overnight after the accident Friday, trying to control the plume from the leak and struggling to get near the crash site. Private and federal environmental contractors were summoned to recommend a cleanup procedure in Teutopolis, a town of 1,600 people.

The accident caused "a large plume, cloud of anhydrous ammonia on the roadway that caused terribly dangerous air conditions in the northeast area of Teutopolis," Effingham County Sheriff Paul Kuhns said. "Because of these conditions, the emergency responders had to wait. They had to mitigate the conditions before they could really get to work on it, and it was a fairly large area.”

Anhydrous ammonia is used by farmers to add nitrogen fertilizer to the soil and as a refrigerant in the cooling systems of large buildings such as warehouses and factories. According to the American Chemical Society, it is carried around the United States by pipeline, trucks and trains.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.