One person is dead following a major accident on I-80 Westbound this morning, Omaha Police said this afternoon.
Joan R. Ocampo-Yambing, 19, of Rosemount, Minn., was pronounced dead at Nebraska Medicine on Monday after semi-truck driver Robert J. Richmond, 69, failed to notice Interstate 80 traffic drastically slowing in front of him rammed into two vehicles in front of him Monday morning, causing severe injuries to people in those vehicles, OPD said.
Just before 10 a.m., as many were traveling westward on I-80 toward prime viewing location total solar eclipse, a Peterbilt semi-truck hit the back end of a Prius just west of the 84th Street underpass, OPD said. The truck, not pulling a trailer, then rear-ended a Sebring convertible, coming to rest on top of the vehicle while forcing the front end of it beneath the back end of a "roll off" trailer, OPD said.
Omaha Fire rescue squads transported both occupants of the Sebring and all four occupants of the Prius to Omaha hospitals with injuries ranging from serious to critical in nature, OPD said. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
Ocampo-Yambing was a passenger in the Prius, OPD said.
OPD identified the others in the Prius as Demetra N. Arvanitakis, 19, of Overland Park, Kan., and Madalene L. Steichen, 19, of Tulsa, Okla., who were taken to Nebraska Medicine; and William L. Tavis, 19, of St. Louis, who was taken to CHI-Bergan Mercy. All three sustained serious injuries, ranging from skull and facial fractures to back injuries and lacerations, OPD said.
Kimberly J. Davlin, 54, and Joyce M. Cramer, 76, were pinned in the Sebring under the semi-truck and had to be extricated by OFD once the truck was hoisted off their vehicle, OPD said. The two women were taken to Nebraska Medicine with a hurt arm and internal injuries, respectively.
Richmond was not injured, police said.
Westbound I-80 traffic was diverted along the shoulders as OPD and Omaha Fire Department personnel worked the scene, OPD said. All lanes were reopened just before 2 p.m. Monday.
The crash remains under investigation.
