Omaha, NE : Man killed, woman critically injured in I-80 semi crash on Thursday September 1 2016

A 66-year-old man was killed and his 61-year-old wife was critically injured Thursday morning in Omaha when their semitrailer truck veered off eastbound Interstate 80 into a ravine just west of 50th Street.

The man, who was driving, was identified as Danny M. Ryan of Hayfield, Minnesota. His wife, Debra S. Ryan, who was in the sleeper cab, suffered two broken legs, officials said.

The right three lanes of eastbound I-80 were closed between 60th and 42nd Streets for about two hours before police tweeted around 8 a.m. that all lanes had reopened.

Just before the crash around 5:55 a.m., Douglas County 911 dispatchers received reports that the semi was being driven erratically. Police said the semi driver swerved left and over-corrected to the right before the semi left the roadway. The semi ended up several hundred feet down into a ravine.

Workers removed Danny Ryan’s body from the semi’s passenger compartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Debra Ryan had to be cut free from the vehicle after it and the trailer ended up on its top, dispatchers said. She was taken by ambulance to the Nebraska Medical Center in critical condition.

Rescue squad personnel used a tow rope to haul their gear and Debra Ryan up a steep hill to eastbound I-80. They still were working to clear the crash site around 2 p.m. Thursday. Hours earlier, around 8 a.m., a large tow truck backed up to the crash scene. Later, a smaller truck arrived with a small front-end loader.

The crash occurred in a wooded, dry ravine with a partially graveled, one-lane path running parallel to it on the ravine’s north side.

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Man killed, woman critically injured in I-80 semi crash