NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A big rig driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into another tractor-trailer on Interstate 95 in Volusia County early Thursday, spilling onions onto the highway, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The crash happened around 3:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-95 at the New Smyrna Beach exit at mile marker 247 near State Road 44.
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According to the FHP, Pierre McClain, 38, of Hialeah, who was hauling refrigerated meat, told troopers that he fell asleep while driving. His truck struck the rear of a big rig carrying onions, causing its trailer to separate and spill the vegetables across the roadway, the FHP said.
McClain was extricated from the truck and airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries, troopers said. Charges are pending against him, the FHP said.
The other driver, Leonel Vazquez Suarez, 56, of North Carolina, was not injured in the crash.
The southbound lanes of I-95 were closed for nearly seven hours as crews cleaned up the onions and a fuel spill.
PHOTOS: Onions spill across I-95 in Volusia crash
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