Idaho truck driver killed in Nebraska blizzard

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – The Nebraska State Patrol said at least one person was killed and scores of stranded drivers were rescued as a late-season blizzard crippled travel in western Nebraska.

The patrol said 61-year-old Rollo Ward, of Idaho Falls, died at the scene of the crash Friday when the semitrailer he was driving eastbound on Interstate 80 went out of control on the snow-covered roadway and hit another semi previously stranded in the blizzard. The crash happened near Chappell in western Nebraska.

The patrol said the Friday blizzard also left more than 100 drivers stranded on I-80 and other highways near Sidney. The patrol said its troopers worked with area police, sheriff’s departments and emergency management agencies, as well as the Nebraska Department of Transportation, to rescue the stranded drivers.

The rescued motorists were taken to a church in Sidney or to area hotels.