A motorist was airlifted Monday morning, following a four-vehicle chain-reaction accident on U.S Highway 20 at Tremont Road in Porter, the Town of Chesterton reported on its Facebook page.
The Porter Fire Department said the crash occurred at 10 a.m.
The Porter Police Department was still investigating the accident as of Monday morning but preliminary information indicates that a semi-tractor trailer rear-ended a passenger vehicle at the intersection of U.S. 20 and Tremont Road, which forced the passenger vehicle into the rear of a third vehicle, and the third into the rear of a fourth, according to the Town of Chesterton.
Porter Fire Chief Jay Craig said that the driver of the first passenger vehicle was airlifted from a landing zone in the parking lot of Fairhaven Baptist Church. That person was flown to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. Another motorist was also injured at the scene, the driver of a pickup truck, and that person was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, Craig told the Town of Chesterton.
The operator of the semi and the driver of the third passenger vehicle refused treatment at the scene.
Firefighters needed to pop the first passenger vehicle’s door in order to extricate the driver, Craig told the Town of Chesterton.
The Chesterton Fire Department assisted at the scene. The Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department provided safety coverage at the landing zone.