Staff Reports

Five people, including a Seymour resident, were injured during a multivehicle crash that closed Interstate 65 in Columbus for nearly three hours.

A second person from Seymour also was involved in that chain-reaction wreck, reported at 9:18 p.m. Thursday about three miles south of the Columbus exit.

The wreck began when a southbound Peterbilt tractor driven by Robert Young Jr., 65, of Jamestown, Ohio, struck a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck driven by Richard Blum, 62, of Goshen, Indiana State Police Master Trooper Tommy Walker said.

The Chevy was pushed into the back of a 2013 Honda Civic driven by Erin Murphy, 23, of Seymour, which slammed into the rear of a 2008 Peterbilt tractor and 1999 Great Dane trailer driven by Azrikam Yisrael, 64, of Miami, Walker reported.

Young’s Peterbilt continued south on I-65, where it struck a 2014 Freightliner double-trailer driven by Nicholas Prewitt, 52, of Seymour, state police said.

Young, who was trapped in his semi, was extricated by Columbus Fire Department personnel and was flown by an Indiana University LifeLine helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital, where he was being treated for serious lower-extremity injuries, Walker said.

Blum and his passenger, Linda Blum, 61, also of Goshen, were taken by ambulance to Columbus Regional Hospital, where they each were treated for head lacerations, Walker said.

The injury status of others, according to the state police:

Yisrael was transported by ambulance to Columbus Regional Hospital, where he was treated for head pain.

Murphy was taken by a guardian to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, where she was treated for facial lacerations.

Prewitt did not report any injury.

The southbound left lane of I-65 was closed at the time of the crash as a roving construction crew was making road repairs.

Trooper Matt Holley was called to conduct a reconstruction of the crash. He was assisted by Trooper Brent Lykins and officers with Columbus Police Department.