MAD RIVER TWP. — A 21-year-old Union County man is dead after three crashes early Wednesday on I-70 East near the Enon Road exit in Mad River Twp., Clark County, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Springfield Post.
Elvis Kikuba, of Milford Center, died at Miami Valley Hospital from injuries suffered in the crashes, the first of which began about 4:45 a.m. when a motorist, 41-year-old Jordan April of Springfield, swerved to avoid a deer lying in the roadway. She lost control of her Chevrolet Malibu and was struck by a Kenworth semitrailer combination driven by Thomas Hawthorne, 67, of Coshocton.
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Both vehicles came to rest in the roadway.
Following that crash, a Toyota Corolla driven by Adrian Espino, 34, of Dayton, struck the Malibu, which had been disabled in the middle lane by the collision with the semi. April was struck by her own car after she got out of it following her collision with the Kenworth semitrailer, the patrol said.
First responders arrived and began to render aid to April and Espino. A fire engine from the Mad River Twp. Fire & EMS Department was parked in the lanes on the right side of the road, with its emergency lights activated.
About 5:08 a.m., a Ford Fusion driven by Elvis Kikuba stopped in the roadway while attempting to merge to the middle lane because the right lane was closed. A Volvo semi combination driven by Orce Spasovski, 52, of Beverly Shores, Indiana, hit Kikuba’s car, which forced Kikuba’s car into a guardrail and the Kenworth semitrailer, the patrol said.
That collision ejected Kikuba’s passenger, identified as Musa Kimuli, 33, also of Milford Center, and the Volvo semi then struck the fire engine. The Volvo semi continued off the left side of the road and hit the median concrete barrier wall.
Kikuba was taken by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital, where he died.
Kimuli and April suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken by ambulance to Mercy Health Springfield Regional Hospital.
Hawthorne and Spasovski were not injured.
The accidents shut down I-70 East for more than five hour, the patrol said.
No charges have been filed. The crashes remain under investigation, the patrol said.
We will update this report as we learn more.
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