5 from Tennessee killed in interstate crash on the way to funeral

ILLINOIS — Police say five people from Memphis, Tennessee, heading to a funeral in Chicago were killed in a crash in southern Illinois.

Illinois State Police said Friday that the driver of an SUV and its four passengers died Thursday afternoon on Interstate 57 in Franklin County. Police say the SUV crashed into the back of a semitrailer. One SUV passenger and the truck driver survived. The crash happened near the West Frankfort exit of northbound Interstate 57.

Family friend Quincy Jones of Memphis tells The Southern Illinoisan that the group was traveling to Chicago for a funeral.

State police identified those killed as 78-year-old Coraleen A. Luellen; 75-year-old Peggy Jackson Armstrong; 78-year-old Helen Elizabeth Armstrong; 76-year-old Harold Edward Armstrong; and 80-year-old Magnolia G. Armstrong, the SUV driver.

State police are investigating.

Cox Media Group