A Missouri truck driver was hurt Friday afternoon in an accident in Mt. Vernon, Illinois blamed on a flying tire.
Reports from the area indicated the accident occurred just south of the Veterans Memorial Drive exit near I-57 and I-64 a little after 2 p.m. A trucker was traveling northbound and hit the tire from a semi traveling southbound and lost control of his unit, causing it to run off the east side of the road, go through a ditch, travel several yards through brush and down an embankment, coming to a stop at the edge of a containment pond.
Mt. Vernon Firemen said firemen from the Jefferson Fire and Waltonville Fire Departments were called to the scene with side-by-sides due to the terrain in the area. The trucker, who was not identified, was taken to SSM Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon by ambulance. The report said the semi was not hauling any hazardous cargo.