LIVE: Pedestrian Fatality Shuts Down Interstate

State troopers are working to find out why the man was walking in the dark on I-94.

WHEATLAND, N.D. — State highway patrol officials are working to determine what happened just before a semi driver struck and killed a man walking along I-94 in the early morning hours just west of Casselton.

North Dakota State Patrol Captain Bryan Niewind said the semi driver called in the crash at 3:13 Thursday morning. He was not physically hurt but was badly shaken by the event, Niewind said, and was at an area hospital to be evaluated for shock.

The man had been walking in the roadway of the westbound lane of I-94 at Mile Marker 324, near Wheatland, said Niewind, when the semi driver hit him. There was no lighting in that stretch of the interstate, and it was both cloudy and dark at the time of the morning, leaving the driver with no chance to take evasive action before striking the pedestrian, who was killed at the scene.

State troopers think it’s likely the pedestrian was on the road because he’d crashed his car, which was discovered having struck some impact barrels in the median a few hundred yards to the west. That car was disabled and unoccupied when law enforcement arrived at the scene, Niewind said.

While it’s not conclusive that’s what happened, Niewind said, it’s important to remember that in the event of a crash, you are safest if you stay in your car with your seatbelt on and wait for help. You’re much more vulnerable to being hit by passing vehicles if you’re on foot as opposed to inside your vehicle.

Check back for more on this developing story.