A year after a deadly crash that destroyed a bridge along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, federal investigators have released a report alleging that gasoline leaked from an unsecured hatch on top of an overturned gasoline tanker.
Investigators reviewed video evidence and found that the 16-inch manhole cover was open when the driver, Nathaniel Moody, 53, arrived to fill up at a gas station in Wilmington, Delaware, and that the cover was not properly locked when he left to deliver gas to a convenience store 42 miles away, the Associated Press reported.
A “source and cause” report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, issued in September and made public late Wednesday, said investigators’ “overall opinion” is that the “most likely cause of the fire” was a trailer truck overturning, causing gasoline to leak through an open manhole, which then caused about 2,500 gallons of a gasoline-ethanol mixture to spill out of a portion of the tank and ignite.
“Every time there’s an accident, it’s so easy for them to put the blame on the truck driver,” Moody’s cousin, Isaac Moody, also a truck driver, told The Associated Press. “When the truck driver can’t protect himself, they find any excuse.”
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Crews work at the site of the collapse of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia, June 14, 2023. A new report released by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, details the events leading up to the gasoline delivery truck crash that ultimately destroyed the bridge. (AP Photo/Matt Luke, File)
The accident occurred on June 11, 2023. According to authorities, a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline was traveling in the northbound lanes of the highway when it overturned while turning left on an exit ramp. The accident caused gasoline to leak from the vehicle, Ignition.
A collapsed section of Interstate 95 was closed after flames and smoke billowed near Cottman Avenue and State Road in Northeast Philadelphia.
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Nathaniel Moody, 53, was identified as the driver of the fuel tanker that caught fire before it ignited and collapsed on Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. (Courtesy of the Moody family)
In this handout photo provided by the City of Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, smoke rises from a collapsed section of the I-95 freeway in Philadelphia on June 11, 2023. (City of Philadelphia via Getty Images)
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A permanent bridge was opened in November and the highway returned to normal operations last month.
Moody, who lived in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, had been an owner-driver with a commercial driver’s license since 2003. His cause of death was determined to be “blunt force trauma to the head, inhalation and thermal injuries,” and the manner of death was ruled an accident, according to Fox 29 Philadelphia. His cousin, Isaac Moody, knew him to be a safety-conscious driver who followed regulations and training requirements.
Fox News’ Steven Sorellese and Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
