All lanes of Highway 169 reopen after fatal crash in Tulsa | News

TULSA, Okla. – All lanes of Highway 169 have reopened after being closed for hours following a fatal crash Thursday.

It happened around 3 p.m. between East Pine and 36th Street North when a large truck carrying rocks overturned.

Lanes were closed for more than six hours while police investigated and cleaned up the wreckage.

Tulsa Police Capt. Richard Meulenberg said the accident occurred after either a puncture or mechanical failure.

“The point where the mechanical problem occurred, whether it was a puncture or something else we are not sure, was about 100 meters away. It was quite a distance from where the truck had the problem to the point where it stopped. After it rolled over, it threw debris on both sides of the highway,” Meulenberg said.

The truck then caught fire and the man inside died from his injuries.

To other drivers on both sides of the highway, Meulenberg said this did not cause any further problems as everyone was aware of it.

“Just lucky for every other driver out here. The luck that they had was the fact that this driver of this truck, I'm going to give him grace by saying that he tried to control his vehicle to the point where he didn't hit people. You know, that's entirely possible. He tried to control his vehicle as best he could to avoid this and drivers were alert today. They saw what was out there and were able to stop. They were able to give this truck enough space to resolve its issue and they stopped, stayed and talked to us,” Meulenberg said.

Tulsa police have not released the name of the man who died.