Brake loss sends semi truck barreling through dense construction zone

One person is dead after a semi truck lost its brakes and went barreling through a construction zone.

The incident happened on Tuesday, August 1st at around 9:15 p.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah on westbound I-80 near 1300 East.

According to Fox 13, a semi truck was traveling down the canyon when it lost its brakes. The rig then moved into the emergency lane and crashed through a construction site closed to traffic. The semi truck smashed through multiple construction barrels, barely missed an Utah Highway Patrol vehicle, and clipped a pickup truck before hitting a construction trailer full of epoxy paint. The force of that impact caused the truck to burst into flames.

The fire scattered flaming debris along the highway and charred the cab of the truck. Once crews put out the fire inside of the truck, the truck driver was found dead inside. Their identity has not been released. No other injuries have been reported.

I-80 was shut down for hours as crews worked to clean up and investigate the incident. I-80 westbound was reopened at around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, but drivers are still advised to expect delays.