Elgin man, Colombian man killed in Interstate 80 crash near Morris

MORRIS – Two men were killed in a five-vehicle crash on Interstate 80, near Ashton Road in Morris shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, according to police.

Sofiane Bessai, 33, of Elgin, was driving westbound on I-80 along with a passenger, Brayan Mauricio Jimenez Velasquez, from the country of Colombia, 26, when Bessai lost control of the vehicle, according to the Grundy County Coroner’s Office.

The front-end of Bessai’s car struck the rear end of a second vehicle, a semi tractor-trailer, in the left lane. Upon impact, Bessai traveled through the center median into the eastbound lanes and struck a semi tractor-trailer traveling eastbound, according to Illinois State Police. The semi rolled over across the center median into the westbound lanes and struck a fourth vehicle, another semi tractor-trailer. A fifth vehicle was struck by crash debris.

Bessai and Velasquez were pronounced dead at the scene. An examination will take place later Saturday, according to the Grundy County coroner.

The drivers of the second, fourth and fifth vehicles did not report any injuries. A motorist driving the third vehicle was taken to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

Interstate 80 was closed in both directions for the traffic crash investigation and traffic was rerouted; all lanes were reopened at about 5 a.m., on Sunday. There is no further information available.

The crash remains under investigation by the Illinois State Police.