INDIANAPOLIS – A crash on I-65 Saturday afternoon has claimed the life of a man from Tennessee.
Indiana State Police Dispatchers began receiving calls about a serious crash involving a car and a semi on I-65 at the 113-mile marker around 3:36 p.m. Trooper Kari Woodard was on the scene of the crash within two minutes and reported a passenger car had struck a semi and the car was fully engulfed in flames.
Trooper Woodard exhausted all efforts to reach the occupant of the vehicle and extinguish the fire with her fire extinguisher. A short time later the Indianapolis Fire Department arrived and extinguished the flames and extricated the driver from the heavily damaged vehicle.
Eduard Chekhun, 28, of Sevierville Tennessee was identified as the driver of the vehicle, he was the only occupant. Mr. Chechun was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Preliminary investigation on the scene has led troopers to believe Chechun was driving a black 2015 BMW at a high rate of speed south on I-65 near the 113.3-mile marker when he came upon stopped traffic. The BMW struck the rear end of a semi-tractor trailer that was stopped in traffic in the lane of travel due to congested traffic ahead.
The BMW immediately caught fire and several bystanders tried to assist but were unable to access the car because of the severity of the damage and the intensity of the fire.
The driver of the semi was not injured.
The crash caused the southbound lanes of I-65 to be closed for approximately three hours while the crash was investigated and the vehicles were removed.
Investigators will await the results of blood tests to determine if alcohol played a role in this crash.
The Indiana State Police was assisted in this investigation by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Fire Department, Marion County Coroner’s Office and Zores Wrecker Service.
