UPDATE: Third Fatality Confirmed In Green River Tunnel Crash, 26 Vehicles Involved
Editor's note: This story contains strong language and themes some may find disturbing.
A trucker who narrowly escaped Friday’s explosive pileup in the Green River Tunnel described the horror inside and posted video footage of the immediate aftermath on social media. In it, screams can be heard from drivers who say they are burning up.
The long-haul trucker who goes by the TikTok handle tophauler0 uploaded three videos from the fiery crash that more than a day later still had emergency crews trying to put out fires in the tunnel.
Two people outside the tunnel have been confirmed dead, and state officials said Saturday that the death toll may rise.
It’s not known how many vehicles were involved in the collision, which sparked loud explosions and a super-hot fire that has hampered the rescue and recovery efforts of emergency responders.
‘Oh, God!’
“So, this happened, coming through the fuckin’ tunnel,” tophauler0 says in the first of three short videos posted to his TikTok channel. “I’m in a wreck, this is fuckin’ bad.
“Oh, this truck is on fire,” he adds, referring to a truck crashed in front of him. “I gotta get out of here.”
He then can be seen kicking out the windshield of this semitrailer to escape, while other vehicles in the crash and possibly a fire is blurry in the background.
Messages to tophauler0 weren’t returned before this story was published. The owner of the trucking company he works for told Cowboy State Daily he’s a hero who "saved the lives" of others in the tunnel. He declined to identify him by name.
The trucker also posted that his company is taking good care of him and had put him up at a hotel in Green River.
@tophauler0 Almost burned alive #tophauler ♬ original sound - Tophauler
‘I Almost Died In There, Man!’
The trucker’s second video picks up after he’s escaped from the tunnel and clearly shows him just outside the entrance, a huge plume of black smoke billowing out and various law enforcement officers on the scene.
“Holy shit! I almost died in there, man!” he says to an officer.
He goes on to tell the officer that his truck was involved but was one of the last ones, and it did not get too far into the tunnel.
“I was one of the very last ones, man,” he says. “The truck in front of me was on fire, with that guy dying in there. He’s dead.
“That guy burnt up in there, man. My truck is next to (inaudible) and it’s on fire.”
The trucker appears excited and emotional, prompting the officer to tell him, “You can’t go in there right now, OK?”
In the background, officers and other agents are heard asking truckers outside the tunnel what they were carrying. Tophauler0 tells them he was hauling food.
‘Life’s Pretty Fragile’
The trucker’s last video picks up in a local hotel room, where an obviously emotionally spent tophauler0 reflects on what he just went through, including the horrific reality of what responders may find as they clear the tunnel.
“It was a heck of a day,” he said. “I just feel so bad for those people burning alive in there, man. I couldn’t even try and help them; the smoke was so bad.”
He also expressed gratitude for those who responded to his first two videos.
“I just want to tell you all thanks for all the concern, I appreciate y’all,” he said.
In responses to comments on his videos, tophauler0 said he was “lucky I even got out,” and that while he grabbed his clipboard when he escaped, the logbook was left in his truck.
He also said he feels divine intervention was at play for him Friday.
“Just a bad pileup and ice, and things happen, man, I guess,” he says. “I don’t know, God wanted me to walk away from that today. Other than a sore back and a bunch of glass in me everywhere — and maybe some black lung, I don’t know.”
He ends with a message for those watching.
“Tell your people you love them, because it can all change in an instant,” he says. “Life’s pretty fragile.”
‘One Of The Good Ones’
Vasilli Tipa, the owner of the trucking company TVA Logistics of Plainfield, Illinois, said his driver was operating the last truck involved in the crash.
Tipa provided Cowboy State Daily with dashcam footage from tophauler0’s truck showing it entering the tunnel, switching lanes and colliding with a truck that was stopped ahead.
Tipa declined to provide the driver’s name, but said he was not hurt in the crash.
He labeled him a hero who helped others out of the tunnel despite being “very scared.”
“Our driver saved the lives of the people (who were in front of him),” Tipa said.
He said the driver is one of the company’s “good” ones.
“We have very good drivers,” Tipa said. “They are the assets of our company.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
