Two airlifted after crash: Interstate shut during cleanup

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GREENFIELD — Two people were airlifted from the scene of a crash that closed Interstate 70 for several hours Thursday afternoon.

A pickup truck driving eastbound along the interstate blew a tire, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle along I-70 near the 106 mile marker around 1 p.m., according to the Indiana State Police.

The car crashed through a wire barrier in the median, crossing into westbound traffic, where it struck an oncoming car, police said. That vehicle sustained minor damage, and the driver was uninjured, police said.

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The truck rolled through a cluster of trees. The vehicle flipped and landed on its top in a cornfield just north of the interstate, trapping the driver and another passenger inside, officials said. Rescuers from the Greenfield Fire Territory cut two people from the pickup truck; both sustained traumatic injuries, officials said.

Two medical helicopters were called to the scene of the crash and transported both passengers to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, officials said. Police had not released their names at press time but said they were in stable condition.

Traffic along westbound I-70 was stopped near County Road 400E as first-responders attended to the injured passengers. Eastbound traffic was also halted while the patients were being loaded into the helicopters, officials said.

The accident was the third to stall traffic Thursday along westbound I-70 in Hancock County.

A car and semi-tractor trailer collided near mile marker 95 around 3 p.m., shortly after the westbound lanes of traffic were reopened.

Both cars involved were heavily damaged, and two people complained of head and neck pain, officials said.

Earlier Thursday, police closed all lanes of the interstate during a chase around 10:30 a.m. that ended with a man’s arrest.