Vehicle Suspected In Tanker Crash That Killed 5 Caught On Video: State Police

TEUTOPOLIS, IL — State police are seeking the public’s help to identify a vehicle suspected in connection with the crash Friday in Effingham County that killed five people — including two small children — after a tanker leaked thousands of gallons of anhydrous ammonia, authorities said.

Just minutes before the collision near Teutopolis, a dark vehicle that may have been involved in the incident traveled westbound around 8:35 p.m. on U.S. Highway 40 through the Spring Creek Road intersection in Montrose, according to police. The vehicle continued through Teutopolis and would have passed the tanker, said police, who published video of the vehicle Tuesday on YouTube.

Authorities were in Casey, Montrose and Teutopolis on Tuesday to retrieve surveillance video that could provide more information, police said. Anyone with doorbell or security cameras that may have captured video of the suspect vehicle, as well as those with relevant information, are asked to call police at 217-342-7881.

The crash may have started when a vehicle tried to pass the chemical-laden truck, according to Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, who said the tanker’s driver pulled to the right and ran off the road while traveling west on U.S. Highway 40.

The accident occurred about 8:40 p.m., Chapman said. The crash spilled roughly half the truck's 7,500-gallon load.

The tanker was carrying caustic anhydrous ammonia when it jackknifed, hitting a utility trailer parked just off the highway, according to Chapman. The tank hit the trailer’s hitch, which punched a 6-inch hole in the chemical container, Chapman said.

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.

Five people died of anhydrous ammonia exposure, with many more injured and about 500 evacuated. The county coroner's office identified the victims as 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 Associated Press contributed to this story.