Wednesday morning: Crews in the process of removing a semi truck and trailer after it ran off the curve on Ramsey Mountain Tuesday morning.
UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. — County officials report the semi truck and trailer have been successfully recovered, and all four lanes of Highway 167 are now open.
Recovery crews were still working Wednesday to remove a semi truck and trailer that ran off a curve atop Ramsey Mountain in the early morning hours, a process county officials described as a “slow go.”
Independence County Judge Kevin Jeffery said the truck, traveling north on Highway 167, left the roadway around 2:18 a.m. Tuesday and dropped more than 50 feet down the embankment. The rig remained upright, and the driver was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Plans to close the highway Tuesday evening for recovery operations were postponed after crews encountered difficulties. Manual unloading of the trailer began around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, before the truck was to be lifted onto the roadway.
Once wrecker equipment is positioned, one lane of Highway 167 will be closed and traffic will be directed around the recovery site, officials said.
Witnesses told authorities the truck made no attempt to negotiate the curve before leaving the pavement. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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