1 killed, 3 injured in I-55 crash at Damen, lanes reopened

One person was killed and three others injured in a crash Sunday on Interstate 55 near Damen Avenue.

The crash occurred around 3:20 a.m. in the southbound lanes of the Stevenson, when a car traveling at a high rate of speed rear-ended an Uber, Illinois State Police said. For reasons that are still unknown, the Uber burst into flames.

The driver and two passengers were able to escape the burning vehicle but one passenger, 23-year-old Jamie Poulos, was not, state police said. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

An autopsy Monday found Poulos died of thermal and inhalation injuries from the fire, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Her death was ruled an accident.

The two other passengers in the Uber were both taken to local hospitals where their conditions were stabilized, state police said.

The other vehicle involved attempted to flee but was apprehended by state police, and charges are pending, state police said. A passenger in that vehicle was taken to a local hospital in serious condition.

All southbound lanes were closed for nearly eight hours as state police investigated the crash. State police declared the expressway reopened shortly after 11 a.m.