4 Soldiers Headed for Gulf Killed in Crash; 5th Hurt
Four soldiers who were due to join U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf were killed Saturday when their pickup slammed into a toll booth, state police said.
A fifth soldier was critically injured in the accident at the Hopkinsville toll plaza on the Pennyrile Parkway, about 15 miles north of Ft. Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee line.
The names of the five soldiers were being withheld until relatives were notified.
A police spokesman said all three men riding in the bed of the truck were killed, as was the driver. The survivor was riding in the cab.
The soldiers were part of the 101st Airborne Division, of which 17,000 are being sent to Saudi Arabia, said Bill Harralson, spokesman at Ft. Campbell.
Two toll collectors said the truck was going between 75 and 80 m.p.h. when it slammed into the cushion in front of one booth, according to trooper Mack Brake. The collector working that booth had just left his post and was not injured, Brake said.
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