A trucker was killed in a crash in Richland County Friday night on I-71 near Ohio 97.

MANSFIELD — A tractor-trailer operator died Friday evening in a single-vehicle crash on I-71 in Richland County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Mansfield Post.

The driver’s name was not released Saturday morning pending identification and notification of next of kin.

Officers received a report of a commercial vehicle crash on the interstate at 11:53 p.m., just north of the Ohio 97 exit.

When officers arrived on scene, they found a car on fire on the east side of the roadway.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was a tractor-trailer of an unknown make and model.
He was driving north on I-71, police said.

He flew off the right side of the roadway and struck a guardrail and a lamppost. The tractor-trailer continued down a steep embankment, overturned and caught fire.

The Richland County Coroner pronounced the driver dead at the scene.

The Mansfield Post assisted the Richland County Sheriff’s Office and Belleville Police.
Washington County Fire Department and EMS, Troy Township Fire Department, Mansfield Fire Department
and EMS, Jefferson Township Fire Department and EMS.