Trucker on shoulder dies in wreck of 4 big rigs

GROSSE TETE, La. (AP) — Louisiana State Police say an 82-year-old trucker who was next to his truck on an interstate shoulder died in a wreck that involved four tractor-trailers and backed up rush-hour traffic for miles.

Trooper Taylor Scrantz says Robert McCarty's big rig and another had pulled over after an earlier accident Thursday morning on westbound Interstate 10 near Grosse Tete.

He says a third tractor-trailer rear-ended another on the highway and then hit McCarty, of Caldwell, Texas, and both parked trucks.

Scrantz says in a news release that the other three drivers suffered minor to moderate injuries in the 8 a.m. crash.

He says 35-year-old Datril Dunbar of Sebring, Florida, was driving the truck that hit the others.

KATC-TV reported that the wreck caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) backup.