Ohio man killed in two-semi collision in McCracken County

An Ohio man was identified as the victim in the fatal collision of two semi tractors early Saturday morning in McCracken County.

Deputies were called to the 9 mile marker on the report that one semi was on its side and the other was fully engulfed in flames.

Investigators said 67-year-old Saio Peters of Decatur, GA was operating an eastbound semi on I-24 when he spotted a semi on the shoulder of the road.  Sixty-one-year-old Zurab Bukhnikashvili of West Chester, OH was standing outside his semi attempting to make a repair when his truck was struck in the rear by Peters.

The semi rolled over on top of Bukhnikashvili. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The tanker truck driven by Peters continued into the center median cable barrier and caught fire. Peters sustained serious injuries and was flown to an out of state hospital for treatment.

One of the semis was loaded with five-gallon buckets of transmission fluid, which spilled over the entire roadway surface and into the median all the way to the edge of the westbound lanes.

The eastbound lanes of I-24 were closed to all traffic for approximately 15 hours to remove the semis and clean the oil from the road surface. Crews came back on Monday to excavate soil contaminated by the spilled oil.

At a future date, crews will return to repair asphalt on the road surface damaged by the crash and the resulting fire.