PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Steel and concrete rubble are most of what remains after a tanker truck caught fire Sunday underneath an Interstate 95 overpass, compromising the structure and causing the northbound lanes of the interstate to collapse. The tanker truck was said to be holding thousands of gallons of gasoline.
Human remains were recovered Monday at the scene of the fire where the collapse happened, officials said. Authorities wouldn’t identify the driver, but a cousin of the victim identified the driver as Nathan Moody of Willow Grove. He was a father of three.
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Chopper 3 was over the scene Monday, where you could see the charred remains of the I-95 overpass that collapsed.
Authorities said it happened after a tanker truck caught fire under it around 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, but there are still so many questions.
What went so horribly wrong in the moments before a tanker truck lost control, crashed and burst into flames?
Sources say the tanker, carrying gasoline en route to a Northeast Philadelphia gas station, failed to properly navigate an I-95 off-ramp at Cottman Avenue and State Road.
Sources say the truck crashed into a wall, exploded and led to a catastrophic failure of key support systems for an elevated interstate that clocks 160,000 vehicles daily, bringing the roadway crashing to the ground below.
“From what we understand, the tractor-trailer was trying to navigate the curve, lost control of the vehicle, landed on its side and ruptured the tank and ignited the fire,” PennDOT secretary Mike Carroll said.
Sources say early on, investigators had some indicators something was wrong.
A GPS tracking system in the truck went off-line disappearing from tracking screens at roughly the moment of the explosion, according to sources.
A short time later, sources say Moody had been monitoring its real-time movement and reported to police the truck could no longer be located.
Sources told CBS News Philadephia that a gas station, which has not publicly been identified yet, called state police to say their gas delivery never made it.
CBS News Philadelphia sources provided a name of an area trucking company. We aren’t identifying them because police have not confirmed they were involved. A woman who answered the phone declined to comment, saying not enough details were known.
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More than 30 hours after the fire and roadway collapse, officials still have not released the name of the company that owns the tanker truck.
PennDOT secretary and the federal highway administrator both arrived at the scene Monday, amid the recovery operation. The National Transportation Safety Board also arrived on the scene.
A preliminary report is expected to be released in the two to three weeks by the NTSB on the investigation of the fire and collapse of I-95.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will be in Philly Tuesday to visit the crash site.
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