Truck driver suffers critical burns

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG
Staff Writer

June 16, 2009 04:54 pm

— PLATTSBURGH — A local truck driver is in critical condition after suffering burns to 50 percent of his body during an accident Monday.
Plattsburgh-based State Police said Raynaldo Cruz was driving a Mack dump truck on Interstate 87 during the afternoon when a tire blowout sent the large construction vehicle careening off the highway.
As the 52-year-old Chateaugay man lost control of the truck, it veered into the woods near the Tom Miller Road overpass and crashed into a group of trees.
Cruz was able to crawl from the wreckage as the vehicle’s engine and cab compartments caught fire.
He suffered extensive burns and was taken by ambulance to CVPH Medical Center.
Cruz was later transferred to the Clark Burn Unit of Syracuse University, where he was still in critical condition Tuesday afternoon.
No additional information about the accident was available.

E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:
avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com