NEWS RELEASE: At 10:38 p.m. Thursday (May 27), Virginia State Police Senior Trooper R.L. Hearl responded to a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 at the 50 mile marker in Smyth County.A tanker truck traveling south on I-81 ran off the left side of the interstate and overturned in the median. A portion of the vehicle ended up blocking the northbound lanes of I-81. Crews have spent the night and morning working to drain the tanker, as it has to be emptied before it can be safely uprighted and removed.
The driver, Alex J. Little, 54, of Wilmington, N.C., was transported to Smyth County Community Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries sustained in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation.
