MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) -- An Interstate 81 accident in which two truck-drivers died in a fiery explosion that shut down the highway for about nine hours was still under investigation Sunday.
A northbound Family Dollar tractor-trailer filled with retail merchandise veered into the southbound lane after it crossed an overpass at state Route 45 about 8:30 a.m. Saturday and collided with a trailer-truck loaded with thick rolls of plastic sheeting, Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy T.A. Sherman said.
Both trucks exploded on impact. The contents of the second truck moved forward into the driver's cab, ejecting him, an official at the scene said.
The force of the impact destroyed the cabs of both vehicles, closing all lanes of the interstate and clogging Martinsburg city streets with waves of rerouted traffic. The interstate remained closed until about 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
The fuel tank of the northbound vehicle was ripped open as the truck skidded against the guardrail for more than a quarter of a mile before crossing the overpass and snapping the thin barrier cable that separated the lanes, sending it into the path of the oncoming truck, Sherman said.
``It was like a bomb going off,'' said Johnny O. Logistics truck driver James Moore of Tennessee.
A visibly shaken Moore said he was traveling just 50 feet behind the southbound M.S. Carrier truck, talking to its driver on a citizen's band radio when he saw the northbound vehicle cross into the path of the truck ahead of him and collide with it.
``All I saw was dirt flying everywhere,'' Moore said, adding his initial reaction was to grab his fire extinguisher and run to offer assistance. ``But as soon as I saw how bad it was, I just put it down.''
Volunteer firefighters from companies throughout Berkeley County and a foam truck unit from the 167th Airlift Wing of the Air National Guard in Martinsburg worked through the morning to extinguish the blaze that left both aluminum trailers burned heaps of twisted, melted metal.
Baker Heights Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Chief Mary Lou Largent blamed the accident on the highway dividing cables that snapped.
Concrete barrier walls line both shoulders of the interstate, but not the median strip between the north and southbound lanes north of the state Route 45 overpass.
Instead, barrier cables were put in place by the Division of Highways two years ago. Critics at the time said the cables were insufficient protection against trucks veering into oncoming traffic.
``It just goes to show you what these barrier cables can do,'' Largent said.
The names of the truck drivers who were killed were not immediately available Sunday.
