TEMPLE, Texas — SH 36 in Temple has been reopened after a nearly 350,000-pound distillation column fell off the back of a semi-truck and onto a car Saturday morning, killing two people and sending one to the hospital in critical condition, according to the City of Temple.
The column pinned the vehicle underneath after it was detached from the semi-truck and took a coordinated effort from several different departments to remove it, Temple Fire and Rescue Public Information Office Santos Soto said.
"That load was bigger than anything that we had equipment for and we worked with several different agencies to get several pieces of equipment out there to assist with the recovery process of the occupants," Soto said.
The City has now stated the stretch of road, near Highway 317, has been cleared of debris and is reopened for normal traffic flow.
"We had our special operations team out there as well as special operations teams from Killeen and Georgetown Fire," Soto said.
According to Temple Fire, two of the people in the pinned car died and the third person, the driver, was removed after being trapped for four hours. The driver was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Their identities have not been released at the time this article was published.