Three men were killed in a violent wrong-way collision on I-88 in suburban Naperville early Friday morning.
Police say the two-vehicle accident occurred just before 1 a.m. when a 2012 Toyota Camry was travelling eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-88 and crashed into a 2007 Chrysler 300 head-on.
An Illinois State Police sergeant told NBC 5 they received a 911 call from a witness who said they saw the driver of the Toyota Camry originally driving in the right direction on the interstate’s westbound lanes, but it then hit a wall, causing the car to spin out into the opposite side of the roadway and then it continued in the wrong direction.
The 911 call came minutes before the driver of the Toyota Camry, who was traveling alone at the time, plowed into the front-end of the Chrysler head-on, police said, which had two men inside.
State police said airbags were deployed in the vehicles, but they were unable to save any lives. All three were pronounced dead on the scene.
Authorities identified the driver of the Toyota Camry Friday as 30-year-old Domenic Andreoni from Elgin.
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The men in the Chrysler were 32-year-old Ali Erhaima from Aurora and 40-year-old Shiva Inampudi from Naperville.
Capt. James Stenger, the 9th Marine Corps District public affairs officer, confirmed one of the people killed in the crash was a Marine.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are affected by this tragedy," Stenger said in a statement.
All westbound lanes on I-88 were closed at Naperville Road for five hours as emergency responders worked to clear the debris scattered across all four lanes of the roadway from the powerful collision. Authorities were able to clear the scene around 6 a.m. to reopen the lanes to drivers.
Investigators said there was no evidence of alcohol found on scene, but that is still a component of their ongoing investigation.
