Driver Dead After XNG Truck Crashes on I-88 in Broome County

4:30 P.M. UPDATE:

Broome County emergency services officials say the residential evacuation affecting parts of the towns of Fenton and Chenango was lifted as of 4 p.m. Monday.

Interstate 88 remained closed while crews worked to clear the crash scene.

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ORIGINAL STORY:

A 52-year-old man died after a tractor-trailer hauling compressed natural gas (CNG) overturned on Interstate 88 north of Binghamton.

Authorities identified the truck driver as Jeffrey Lind of Hallstead, Pennsylvania.

According to the Broome County Sheriff's Office, Lind was driving a tractor-trailer owned by Xpress Natural Gas. He was ejected from the cab and pronounced dead at the scene.

READ MORE: Tractor Trailer Driver Dies in Monday Morning Crash in Chenango Bridge

The crash occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Monday in the eastbound lanes of the highway in the town of Fenton. The scene is near I-88 Exit 2.

Witness accounts indicated Lind swerved to avoid striking a deer in the roadway. The truck struck a highway barrier dividing the eastbound and westbound lanes.

The rig overturned and slid across the eastbound lanes before coming to rest against a concrete barrier on the right side of the highway.

One of the four CNG tanks in the trailer was damaged in the crash. Crews spent hours off-loading the remaining gas onto other trucks.

About 80 homes in a quarter-mile radius of the crash scene were evacuated as a precaution. The residents affected by the evacuation live in the towns of Fenton and Chenango.

A section of Interstate 88 near the crash site remained closed Monday afternoon for the crash investigation.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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