I-84 crash kills one
By Terry Murry on Friday, September 29th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UMATILLA COUNTY – The Oregon State Police reports it responded to a report of a crash involving two commercial motor vehicles near milepost 226 on Interstate 84 eastbound.
OSP’s preliminary investigation indicated that a CMV operated by Ruslan Basarab, 49, of Renton was traveling in the slow lane when it struck the rear of Peterbilt commercial vehicle and trailer operated by Francisco Rivera Atilano Jr., 20, of Hermiston.
The CMV operated by Basarab caught fire as a result of the collision and burned so badly it was unidentifiable. Basarab was removed from the vehicle and was declared deceased after being transported to an area hospital.
Atilano was not injured. The highway was impacted for several hours. OSP was assisted by the Umatilla Tribal Police Department, Umatilla Tribal Fire Department, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
