1 killed in Rusk County tanker-truck wreck

RUSK COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A major Rusk County highway is back open after a fatal crash Thursday morning.

It happened around 6:50 a.m. near the intersection of U.S. 259 and FM 850. The DPS has not shared any new information on how the crash happened.

One person is dead after a tanker truck and a pickup truck collided. First responders were out there until early afternoon clearing up the scene.

Trucking company manager Jennifer Chavers says this intersection has become a dangerous spot and as seen the problem first hand as she often drives down this road.

“That intersection at U.S. 259 always sneaks up on me. Even though there is a warning sign that there’s an intersection coming up, it just, it’s easy to miss. Suddenly you’re there you know, and so I see why there are accidents there all the time.”

After Thursday morning’s wreck, Chavers is pushing for more sufficient traffic warnings along the roadways. She suggests flashing lights like the stop signs at the intersection of FM 850 and FM 42.

“You know whatever it costs to put more warning systems at that intersection. It’s definitely worth it, and whatever lives are saved.”

Rusk County judge Joel Hale says he was driving down U.S. 259 on Thursday morning when he saw the wreck.

“After I saw the pictures of the wreck and the wreckage itself, I knew I probably needed to reach out to TXDOT to make them aware that we were concerned and we would like them to look into this.”

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