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One dead, one injured after crash on I-24 East in Rutherford County

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RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — One person is injured and one person is dead following a car crash on I-24 in Rutherford County Friday evening.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reports that the incident occurred around 7:00 p.m.

Diego Gomez, 49, was driving a 2004 Honda Civic east on I-24 near mile marker 72. Yair Moctezuma de Jesus, 43, of Georgia, was driving a 2024 Volvo Tractor truck next to the Civic.

For an unknown reason, Gomez ran the Civic off the right side of the roadway and over-corrected before losing all control of the vehicle. The vehicle came to a stop, facing the wrong way, and Gomez tried to get over to the left shoulder of the interstate when the tractor-truck swerved to avoid a collision.

The tractor truck struck the Civic and both vehicles came to a rest in the center median.

Gomez died as a result of injuries from the accident, while his 23-year-old passenger, Salvador Lopez Orellana was injured.

Moctezuma de Jesus was not injured in the accident.

No further information is available at this time.

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