April 30--A 54-year Des Plaines man died after a chain-reaction crash on the Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294) on Saturday morning in Des Plaines, according to Illinois State Police.
Jeffery Komada was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he died, according to a statement from state police.
Komada was pronounced dead at 11:05 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The multivehicle wreck happened about 10 a.m. when a blue 2013 Honda CRV being driven by Komada rear-ended a maroon 1999 Ford Windstar minivan that had stalled in southbound traffic on I-294 in Des Plaines, state police said.
That crash caused a gray 2010 Tiguan Volkswagen to rear-end Komada's Honda, but as the driver and passenger of the VW, a 38-year-old woman and a 4-year-old girl, moved to the backseat of the Honda, Komada exited it and was standing outside his vehicle when a semitrailer truck approached and hit the unoccupied Volkswagen, the Honda and the Komada, state police said.
The driver of the truck was a 63-year-old LaPorte, Ind., man, and a 32-year-old Evanston man was driving the Windstar.
No citations were issued, and the wreck remains under investigation.
As of 1:30 p.m. all lanes of traffic are open again.
