Jan 25, 2023 2 min read

A tractor-trailer carrying 45,000 pounds worth of Mason jar lids crashed through a guardrail on Interstate 70 in Fallowfield Township early Tuesday and rolled down an embankment before coming to rest on its roof near a stream.

The crash happened in the eastbound lanes near the Monongahela/Centerville interchange shortly after 6 a.m., a Washington County 911 dispatch supervisor said.

When emergency responders arrived, they found the cab and trailer upside down about 30 feet down an embankment just a few feet from the stream.

The driver, Sherzoo Makhmudoy, 28, of Philadelphia, was able to get out of the vehicle on his own but suffered minor injuries in the crash, state police said. He was taken by ambulance to Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital in Carroll Township for treatment, police said.

Diesel fuel spilled from the rig and had to be stopped from getting into the waterway by a hazardous materials crew that also responded to the scene.

One eastbound lane of I-70 was closed for nearly 11 hours while a towing crew removed the wreckage from the hillside, the 911 dispatcher said.

The tractor-trailer was carrying a load of 45,000 pounds of metal Mason jar lids, police said. The vehicle was badly damaged in the crash, but the load did not appear to spill out of the trailer.

Firefighters from Fallowfield Township and Bentleyville responded to the crash, along with an ambulance crew from Rostraver-West Newtown Emergency Services.

State police in Belle Vernon are investigating the crash.