(Memphis) Interstate I-240 was shut down for four hours Tuesday after a Memphis Area Transit Authority bus driver was killed in an accident with a cement truck driver.
The MATA driver has been identified as Chantel Sanders. There were no passengers on theb MATAplus bus at the time.
The crash happened around 8:40 Tuesday morning.
Witnesses report seeing the bus driver and the cement truck collide after the cement truck driver lost control while merging into a south bound lane from South Parkway.
“She got tossed out of the front of the windshield. She got stuck under the MATA bus and it drug her,” said Minister Theaudry Hall who saw the collision.
“The truck rolled over in front of her and she didn’t have any time to get out of the way,” said Hall.
Several witnesses worked to help the bus driver, but police said she likely died on impact.
“We are unsure if she was. It was a very brutal impact. So even if she was wearing a seat belt, it wouldn’t of matter,” said Memphis Police Department Major Roderick Cunningham.
William Hudson is MATA president and general manager, “We express our deepest condolences to her (Chantel Sanders) family and close friends, and ask all Memphians to please keep them in their thoughts and prayers.”
Sanders had worked for MATA since 2005 and leaves behind two sons, a grandchild and her mother.
The driver of the cement truck was taken to The MED in critical condition.
“I was just seeing it happen right before my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said witness Lougenia Nesbit.
No word on if charges will be filed against the cement truck driver.