Alcohol suspected in fiery wrong-way crash on I-80 that killed 4

(MCT) — Alcohol is suspected in a fiery collision that killed four men when a wrong-way driver smashed head-on into another car on Interstate 80 near south suburban Hazel Crest, authorities said.

The sole survivor of the crash told state police that the wrong-way driver made an illegal U-turn in a 1996 Infiniti and headed east in the westbound lanes to get back to northbound Tri-State Expressway. The driver had been on I-294 but had mistakenly taken the turn onto westbound I-80, police said.

The Infinity, carrying four people, hadn't gone far when it collided with a Ford Escort near Kedzie Avenue at about 2:15 a.m., state police said. Troopers pulled one person from the Infinity before it erupted in flames. 

“Two of our troopers were able to rescue one of the passengers, and they attempted to rescue another passenger, but that’s when the car burst into flames,” said Master Sgt. Timothy Tyler.

Three people in the Infinity and the driver of the Escort were killed. There were no passengers in the Ford. There was a wheelchair in the Infiniti that is believed to have belonged to one of the passengers, Tyler said.

All five people involved in the crash were men in their 30s, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, but their identities and addresses were not immediately available.

State Police Sgt. Richard Decker said the men in the Infinity were returning home to the western suburbs from the Skybox gentleman's club in south suburban Harvey. Alcohol is suspected, according to Tyler.

The crash's sole survivor was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and was in fair condition, authorities said.

The crash and police investigation closed all westbound lanes of I-80, as well as the ramp from southbound I-294 to westbound 1-80, until 8:15 a.m. One lane reopened shortly after 8 a.m.

The crash is the fourth recent incident of motorists driving the wrong way on an area expressway. This was the only case involving a fatality.

The latest episode was Friday on the Stevenson Expressway in which a wrong-way SUV driver crashed head-on with a car on a ramp leading from Lake Shore Drive to the expressway after a 5-mile trip.