Contact Information Media Relations
Phone: (318) 681-0666
Fax: (318) 681-0888
Go Back

Update: 11:30 a.m . - I-220 wreck claims the life of one

A woman is dead this morning after she was hit by an 18-wheeler on the I-220 bridge over Red River.

Clara Neal, 39, of Plain Dealing, stopped on the bridge just before 6 a.m. to assess damage to her car after she was involved in a single-vehicle accident. Deputies said Neal was traveling west in the inside lane when she lost control of her vehicle, crossed over to the outside lane, and hit the bridge. After the accident, Neal's car was partially obstructing oncoming traffic, so she got out and began flagging traffic around the crash site. She was standing in the westbound lane when she was hit by an oncoming 18-wheeler.

The rear tires of the 18-wheeler's trailer hit the back of Neal's car, which turned the 18-wheeler on its side and scattered plywood across the westbound lanes. The westbound lanes are expected to be closed for another one to two hours while the roadway is cleared.

Several of Neal's family members who were traveling in a separate car on I-220 passed by the initial accident and had stopped to help just before Neal was hit by the tractor-trailer rig.

The accident remains under investigation by the Caddo Sheriff's Traffic Safety Unit.
Go Back