WCOM NEWS

9-01-04

Dump truck driver killed in turnpike crash in Miramar

MIRAMAR--A dump truck driver died Tuesday following a crash involving a fuel tanker near the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike at the border of Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Margarita Cruz, 38, of Miami, was heading north around 11:30 a.m. when she lost control of her 1994 Ford truck, which swerved left and went across the median into traffic heading south, said Lt. Pat Santangelo, a Florida Highway Patrol spokesman.

A tanker truck heading south with 8,700 gallons of gasoline overturned on the highway's right shoulder when its driver, Robert Session, 60, of Fort Lauderdale, tried to avoid hitting the dump truck, according to Santangelo.

The ruptured tanker landed about 300 feet south of the University Drive toll plaza, spilling about 2,000 gallons into a ditch, Santangelo said.

The dump truck was carrying 20 tons of lime rock.

The cause of the accident is still being investigated, but Santangelo said Session would be cited for driving with a suspended license.

Emergency workers from the Miami-Dade and Miramar Fire-Rescue departments spent hours cleaning the spill and containing leaks from the tanker.

State troopers and officers from Miami-Dade and Miramar helped control the traffic.

"There was no fire," said Romeo Lavarias, a Miramar fire-rescue spokesman. "Luckily, [the fuel] was contained in one area. We were very, very fortunate."

Santangelo said Cruz died shortly after she arrived at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

Session was flown to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

(source) Sun Sentinel (Thomas Monnay) 9-01-04