Driver Dies After Van Slams Into Stopped Semi During Friday Night I-65 Traffic Backup
WHITE HOUSE, TENNESSEE: (Smokey Barn News) – A man died in Friday night’s I65 backup following a crash in Robertson County that prompted an extensive rescue operation involving multiple fire departments, Robertson County EMS, Emergency Management, Air Evac, and heavy rescue equipment.
The crash occurred just before 11:00 p.m. Friday on Interstate 65 southbound near Mile Marker 106, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
According to Robertson County EMS Director Brent Dyer, emergency crews were dispatched to reports of a serious crash while firefighters were already battling a tractor-trailer fire near the bottom of the ridge in Millersville just a few miles south on I65. The fire caused traffic to back up for several miles. Personnel from the Cross Plains Fire Department, Millersville Fire Department, and White House Community Volunteer Fire Department were already working the tractor-trailer fire when another call came in for a crash just a short distance north of their position on the interstate.
When Medic 40, White House’s primary paramedic ambulance, arrived at the scene, crews found the lone occupant of a cargo van heavily trapped beneath the rear of a semi-trailer loaded with automobile parts.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s preliminary report identifies the vehicles involved as a 2015 Ram ProMaster 2500 and a 2026 Freightliner semi-truck. According to THP, the Freightliner had stopped in the left lane because of backed-up traffic when the southbound ProMaster struck the rear of the trailer.
Dyer said the force of the collision drove the van so far beneath the trailer that the driver became critically trapped.
The Robertson County Emergency Management Agency, including an EMS supervisor carrying emergency trauma blood products, responded to assist. The White House Community Volunteer Fire Department led what Dyer described as a difficult and highly technical extrication, while firefighters from Cross Plains and Millersville brought additional rescue equipment and manpower.
Despite using the Emergency Management Agency’s truck equipped with a 12,000-pound winch, crews were initially unable to move the van enough to begin safely freeing the driver.
Smith’s Towing of Portland was then called to the scene with a heavy-duty rotator wrecker. During the rescue, the entrapment was reportedly so severe that the immense force required to free the van caused the heavy wrecker itself to begin sliding.
After approximately 40 to 45 minutes, firefighters successfully extricated the driver.
While rescue efforts continued, an Air Evac medical helicopter landed nearby, and Robertson County EMS personnel had already begun administering newly available emergency trauma blood products. Once the crushing forces trapping the victim were relieved, Dyer said the man’s condition deteriorated rapidly. During transport, he suffered a traumatic cardiac arrest.
An Air Evac flight nurse and flight medic accompanied the two Robertson County paramedics during transport to TriStar Skyline Medical Center, where, despite extensive rescue and resuscitation efforts, the driver succumbed to his injuries, Dyer said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol identified the driver of the van as 39-year-old Abdullah Rahamat of Wisconsin. The driver of the semi, a 36-year-old man from Kentucky, was not injured. No charges have been filed, according to the preliminary report.
Following the incident, Dyer thanked the numerous agencies whose coordinated efforts made the challenging rescue possible.
“Thank you to our emergency management partners, law enforcement on scene, and to our County’s Fire Departments for the efforts to rescue the man in the difficult situation presented,” Dyer said. “Also, thank you to Air Evac and Smith’s Towing in Portland for always being a company we can rely on to help with heavy rescue.”
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the man who lost his life in the crash,” Dyer added.
The crash remains under investigation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
