2 dead in fiery tractor-trailer crash that closed Atlanta highway

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Two people died after a semitrailer carrying fuel caught fire Saturday after crashing with a passenger vehicle on a Georgia highway in suburban Atlanta.

Update 9:06 p.m. EST Feb. 1: Police identified the victims as Emerald Lynn, 31, and Yonas Worku, 44.

Police said Lynn, was driving a silver Volkswagen and had stopped in the second from right lane after being involved in a separate traffic accident.

Worku, who was driving a Freightliner truck pulling a fuel tanker trailer, ran into the back of Lynn’s car. Both vehicles caught on fire.

Lynn, of Norcross, and Worku, of Snellville, both died at the scene.

Update 8:41 p.m. EST Feb. 1: Gwinnett County police said a tractor-trailer loaded with fuel was in a crash with a passenger vehicle. Both vehicles burst into flames.

The fuel from the truck flowed underneath the southbound lanes of I-85, causing multiple explosions in the sewer system. Smoke and flames billowed from manhole covers in the area.

Gwinnett County police said two people died in the crash. Their identities have not yet been released.

Drivers were evacuated from their cars and people from businesses nearby. The inferno also sparked a brush fire that caused power outages in the area.

All lanes have sincebeen opened.

Original report: According to Gwinnett County police, northbound traffic was closed on Interstate 85 near Jimmy Carter Boulevard, WSB-TV reported.

Police said the highway was closed at the DeKalb County line, the television station reported.

I-85 southbound was also closed in the area but has since reopened, WSB reported.

Drivers were being evacuated from their cars and people from businesses nearby.

Gwinnett County police confirmed that one person died in the crash and said the road was damaged.

“It is unknown what extent,” police said in a statement.

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