Two people died in a crash on the Tri-State Tollway that shut down the eastbound lanes for more than four hours Tuesday near Half Day Road in the north suburbs.
An SUV sideswiped a semitrailer about 10:26 a.m. on I-94 near IL-22 before spinning out and then crashing into another semi, according to Illinois State Police.
The driver and front passenger of the SUV were pronounced dead, state police said. The rear passenger of the SUV was taken by helicopter to a hospital with injuries that were life-threatening.
The Lake County coroner’s office identified the driver as being 29-year-old Roberta Harris of Chicago and the passenger as being 29-year-old Christopher Lopez of Bronx, NY, state police said. Preliminary autopsy results found they both died of blunt force injuries caused by a motor vehicle crash.
The drivers of both semis were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening, state police said.
Westbound lanes were closed until 11:40 a.m. to allow a helicopter to land, state police said.
All lanes were reopened by 3:05 p.m.
