Two truck drivers allegedly involved in a deadly collision that killed two people in Thomasville, Alabama, were reportedly in the United States on work visas.
The FBI has reportedly joined the investigation into the crash due to the two drivers not being from the United States. According to WKRG, a Russian translator had to be called to the scene because one of the drivers, Andrii Dmyterko, did not speak proficient English. Thirty-one-year-old Denys Kucher was Dmyterko’s passenger and also apparently in the U.S. on a work visa.
“They’re going to pay,” Thomasville Police Chief Mitchell Stuckey said. “We can’t make the loved ones lost yesterday come back, but we certainly make the one responsible pay.”
A single mom of two, 37-year-old Ashley Marie Springer McDonald, and a local football coach, Woodie Beck, died in the crash. Both were stopped at a red light when the truck plowed into the vehicles from behind. Per WKRG:
On May 6, around 11:51 a.m., a loaded semi truck and trailer “struck four vehicles from behind that were stopped for a red light in the southbound lane of Highway 43 at the intersection of South Industrial Park Drive in Thomasville, Alabama,” a Thomasville Police Department news release said.
Video shows no sign of Dmyterko using his brakes as he “struck four vehicles from behind that were stopped for a red light in the southbound lane of Highway 43 at the intersection of South Industrial Park Drive in Thomasville…,” a news release said.
Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day suggested initially that something may have happened medically to the driver involved in the crash, but WKRG reported that police say otherwise, given that “Dymterko was walking around fine after the crash and was taken to the hospital for a checkup that found nothing wrong.”
“All they did was stop at a red light … it could’ve happened to anybody,” Stuckey said.
Authorities will be investigating how Dmyterko earned his CDL certification.
“Knowing two people lost their lives and other people got injured, the devastation it caused in this area … we need to get to the bottom of this, and our investigative team is going to leave no stone unturned,” said Day.
As – News reported, American truckers have welcomed reforms made by the Trump administration to “restore enforcement of a rule that excludes foreign truckers from the roads if they cannot read English-language signs and instructions.”
“The change is set by an executive order to be signed by Trump,” said the report. “The order tells Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ‘to ensure drivers violating English proficiency rules are placed out-of-service, enhancing roadway safety,’ and directs him to revamp other aspects of the trucking industry.”
