Truck Driver Arrested After Car Crash Near Denver Killing 4 People

(LAKEWOOD, Colo.) — Four people died after a semi-truck hauling lumber lost control and plowed into vehicles on a crowded section of Interstate 70 near Denver, triggering explosions and a fire so intense that it melted the roadway and metal off of cars, authorities said Friday.

“It was crash, crash, crash and explosion, explosion, explosion,” said John Romero, a spokesman for the Lakewood, Colorado, police department, describing the 28-vehicle chain reaction of blasts from ruptured gas tanks.

The truck driver, Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, of Houston, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide as police continue to investigate what happened.

Six people were taken to hospitals with injuries but their conditions were unclear Friday.