Philadelphia highway collapse: 1 body recovered from rubble

PHILADELPHIA — A body has been recovered from the rubble of Sunday’s highway collapse on a major Philadelphia highway, authorities said Monday.

>> Read more trending news

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Police said that remains had been discovered from the wreckage of the Interstate 95 collapse at about 2 p.m. EDT, WCAU-TV reported. The spokesperson said the remains had not been “positively identified.”

Troopers said the body has been turned over to the county medical examiner and coroner, WNEP-TV reported.

“A body was recovered from the (I-95) wreckage and turned over to the Philadelphia County Medical Examiner and authorities are in the process of identifying the remains,” state police spokesperson Myles Snyder told CNN.

Pennsylvania state Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll told The Philadelphia Inquirer that “I will defer to the medical examiner for comment on that.”

The indefinite closure on I-95 began Sunday after a tanker truck caught fire under the interstate, leading to a partial collapse of the overhead lanes.

Carroll said the tractor-trailer driver was trying to navigate a curve and lost control of the vehicle, which landed on its side, rupturing the tank and igniting the fire, the Inquirer reported.

He said the bridge, which was 10 to 12 years old was structurally sound before the accident, according to the newspaper.

Family members and “separate sources” told WPVI-TV that the name of the trucker is Nathaniel Moody.

According to WTXF-TV, Moody, 53, is a husband, father, and experienced driver. Family members told the television station that the driver, who has 10 years of experience as a trucker, was transporting fuel for a company in Pennsauken, New Jersey, at the time of the crash.

Officials have declined to identify the truck driver or trucking company, the Inquirer reported.

On Monday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a proclamation of disaster emergency following the collapse, WPVI-TV reported.