Truck driver rescued from his cab dangling off an elevated highway in Kentucky
May 5, 2025, 11:50 AM
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) 鈥� Firefighters rescued the driver of a semi-truck after a crash left the truck鈥檚 cab dangling over the side of an elevated highway in Kentucky.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a social media post that it responded Sunday morning to the crash on Interstate 65 just south of the Kennedy Bridge and found the cab hanging precariously off the interstate. The highway is elevated above 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6.1 meters) above Interstates 64 and 71 in the area, Capt. Donovan Sims said.
A rescuer harnessed to a rope system was lowered into the cab, and video showed the rescuer and the driver then being lifted from the vehicle to safety.
Authorities said the rescue operation took about 30 minutes and no injuries were reported although the driver was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
The Louisville Metro Police Department released several 911 calls related to the accident, including a call with the truck driver, .
鈥淲ill you guys please help me, I鈥檓 about to … I鈥檓 about to fall down from the bridge,鈥� the driver said. 鈥淚鈥檓 just hanging over the bridge, I don鈥檛 want to die.鈥�
The driver asks the operator to stay on the phone.
鈥淚鈥檓 really afraid to move in the truck right now,鈥� the driver said. 鈥淧lease help me.鈥�
The operator urges the driver to stay still, but assures him that lots of people are on the way to help. When the operator asks if it is the only the cab that went off the highway. The driver replies that he can鈥檛 tell.
鈥淚 just see the road down beneath me, that鈥檚 all I can see,鈥� he said.
The rescue comes a little more than a year after another truck driver was rescued from the cab of her truck, which hung over the side of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge between Louisville, Kentucky, and southern Indiana.
