Crash spills cocoa powder, batteries on freeway in Indiana

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(Indiana State Police)

A crash involving two semi-trucks closed a stretch of freeway in northwestern Indiana and scattered cargo including cocoa powder and batteries.

No one was injured in the early Friday crash along eastbound Interstate 94 in Burns Harbor.

Indiana State Police say a truck driven by 70-year-old Radmilo Samardzio of Ballwin, Missouri, pulled over with its emergency hazard lights on so he could get a bottle of water when a truck driven by 57-year-old Steven S. Dare of Hudsonville, Michigan, collided with the truck.

Police say a preliminary investigation found Dare reached to get something, causing the truck to drift.

Samardzio was hauling food products including cocoa powder, while Dare was hauling merchandise including about 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of lithium batteries. Police say some batteries leaked, briefly causing small fires.