CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – A semi-truck driving down State Road 605 in Cibola County went off the road and rolled over, killing one, on June 22.
The Mack Commercial Motor Vehicle was driven by Garrett T. Buckner from Chanute, Kansas, around 7 a.m., New Mexico State Police are currently investigating the crash, and said that the reason the semi-truck went off the road remains under investigation.
Buckner wasn’t the only person inside the vehicle an unnamed passenger was in the sleeper cab at the time of the incident. The passenger, a 45-year-old male was rushed to Cibola General Hospital in Grants, New Mexico. Buckner, the driver, was killed in the accident.
Cibola County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on the scene but were unable, due to New Mexico State law, to do much more than assist with traffic control. This is because deputies discovered ammonium nitrate seeping from the semi-truck, which turned the scene into a hazmat situation which can only be handled by NMSP.
Upon preliminary investigation, NMSP officers say that alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the crash, and that Buckner was wearing his seatbelt correctly, but the male passenger in the sleeper cab was not. NMSP is currently investigating this crash, more details will become available as the investigation continues.