KC truck driver seriously injured after big rig tips over Missouri highway

SALINE CO., Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City semi-truck driver is fighting for his life after his 18-wheeler overturned during a morning crash along a rural Missouri highway.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol indicates that on Wednesday, October 30, around 9:55 a.m., emergency services were called to the area of Highway 65, north of Mount Olive, for reports of a single-vehicle collision.

When first responders arrived, they said they discovered Gerardo J. Velasquez Vallardes, 29, of Kansas City, was driving his 2019 International semi-truck north on the highway when he veered off the right side of the road for an unknown reason.

Investigators said the large vehicle then struck a lane marker before Velasquez Vallardes overcorrected and got the vehicle back onto the highway, where it overturned.

Emergency officials said Velasquez Vallardes was taken to University Hospital in Columbia with life-threatening injuries. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

State Troopers noted that the semi-truck was totaled during the collision. No further information has been released.