Tanker truck carrying 28,390 liters of diesel explodes in Ohio, killing 1

(CNN) — One person is dead, several roads in Northeast Ohio are closed and diesel spilled into a river after a tanker truck lost control and exploded Saturday morning.

The driver of the truck was heading north on State Route 8 in Macedonia, about 18 miles north of Akron, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. While trying to merge onto Interstate 271, he lost control and went over the side of the bridge, causing the truck to burst into flames when it crashed onto state Route 8, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said officers from multiple departments, including the hazardous materials team, responded to the fire at 9:15 a.m. local time.

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Bryant Somerville told CNN the truck was carrying 7,500 gallons of diesel when it crashed.

The sheriff’s office said diesel from the tanker truck reached a nearby river and leaked into Brandywine Falls, a 60-foot waterfall that briefly ignited a stream.

“Nearby Brandywine Creek was accidentally affected by diesel,” Somerville said in an email Saturday. “There was a brief fire in the creek initially after the accident, and the Ohio EPA on-site coordinator reports that the fire has been extinguished.”

Somerville said the agency is establishing containment measures in the bay to prevent diesel spills and will monitor mitigation efforts.

The ramp from state Route 8 to Interstate 271 is closed in both directions, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials say the roads will remain closed “until the safety of the bridge is inspected,” which is ongoing.

Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Matt Bruning said crews are at the scene inspecting both the bridge and the road. A section of the road where the tanker truck landed and exploded “will need to be rebuilt,” he told CNN in an email.

“I don’t have a timeline on it,” Bruning said. “I have not yet heard the details about the inspection of the bridge. “We won’t be reopening anything until we feel it’s safe for motorists.”

Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.