HARDIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY — An illegal U-turn by a tractor-trailer driver led to a fiery two-rig crash Monday night that shut down the Bluegrass Parkway for nearly nine hours, according to Kentucky State Police Post 4.

Troopers responded shortly before 9:30 p.m. to the eastbound lanes near the seven-mile marker. A preliminary investigation determined that two commercial tractor-trailers were traveling eastbound when one driver, identified as 41-year-old Manual Ostos Paxtian of Moss, Tennessee, attempted to make an illegal U-turn using an emergency turnaround.

The second tractor-trailer, operated by 67-year-old Charles Penn of Union Springs, Alabama, attempted to avoid the turning truck but was unable to stop in time and struck it.

Following the impact, one of the tractor-trailers burst into flames and was completely destroyed by the fire. The other overturned into the westbound lanes of the Bluegrass Parkway.

Paxtian sustained minor injuries and was transported to Baptist Health Hardin in Elizabethtown for treatment. Penn was not injured in the crash.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of the Bluegrass Parkway were closed for hours while crews removed the destroyed rigs, conducted roadway cleanup, and allowed a crash reconstructionist to investigate the scene. The highway reopened around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, approximately nine hours after the initial collision.

Kentucky State Police continue to investigate the crash.

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