NTSB opens investigation into Wisconsin crash that killed 4

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the chain-reaction crash that killed four people and injured several others on Interstate 39/90 near Lodi last week.

The NTSB tweeted that the agency is conducting the investigation with the Wisconsin State Patrol and now has no plans to send NTSB investigators to the scene near Lodi.

The State Patrol on Wednesday identified the four dead as Phillip Bruno, 55, of Ingleside, Illinois, who was driving a semi; Eleanor Heeringa-Owen, 59, of DeForest, Wisconsin, who was driving a Volkswagen Passat; Samantha McMullen, 23, of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, who was driving a Chevrolet Malibu; and Joseph Kosinski, 72, of Madison, Wisconsin, who was driving a Kia Seltos.

Eight vehicles were involved in the crash, which happened around 6:45 a.m. Friday as traffic moved around an earlier crash scene. Authorities say a tractor trailer drove into the end of a traffic line and crashed into other vehicles. The patrol says the 50-year-old driver of a pickup and a 10-year-old boy in the pickup, both from Oconomowoc, suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash.