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.

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.

A tractor-trailer owned by Xpress Natural Gas crashed on Interstate 88 in the town of Fenton. Photo: Broome County Sheriffs Office
A tractor-trailer owned by Xpress Natural Gas crashed on Interstate 88 in the town of Fenton. (Photo: Broome County Sheriff's Office)
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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.

A truck that overturned on Interstate 88 near Exit 2 was hauling compressed natural gas. (Photo: Broome County Sheriff's Office)
A truck that overturned on Interstate 88 near Exit 2 was hauling compressed natural gas. (Photo: Broome County Sheriff's Office)
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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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