Coroner IDs metro-east man killed in fiery interstate crash

A 63-year-old man from Cottage Hills died in a fiery, two-vehicle crash on Interstate 55 in Collinsville Sunday, the Madison County coroner announced Tuesday.

Joseph Wayne Sands was identified as the victim, Coroner Nick Novacich said in a news release.

Sands was driving a 1992 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck north on I-55 near milepost 8 and had slowed down in the lane of traffic early Sunday when his vehicle was rear-ended by a “box truck,” according to preliminary information cited in the news release.

Sands’ truck burst into flames after the collision. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:25 a.m.

Funeral arrangements for Sands are being handled by Marks Mortuary in Wood River.

The driver of the other truck was taken to a St. Louis area hospital in critical condition, the news release states.

Illinois State Police said Monday no other information about this crash was available to be released.

Novacich said the case remains under investigation by state police, the coroner’s office and the Illinois State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit.

The Collinsville Fire Department responded to the crash site.