Semi hits road worker
Trucker arrested after I-40 crash

Construction workers stand near the scene of an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a construction worker near mile marker 41 on Interstate 40 Thursday. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Independent staff

GALLUP — A tractor-trailer struck a highway worker on Interstate Highway 40 near Gallup Thursday afternoon critically injuring the man.

The state Department of Transportation reported Melvin Johnson was shutting down a lane of westbound I-40 for a pavement project when he was hit, according to a DOT spokesman. Johnson, who is from the Thoreau area and is a 19-year veteran of the DOT, was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque where he was reported early Friday morning to be in critical condition.

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