Driver who fell asleep in the afternoon caused fatal I-290 crash: state police

A 79-year-old woman was killed Wednesday afternoon in a multiple-vehicle crash on Interstate 290 allegedly caused by a driver who fell asleep in the northwest suburbs.

A driver allegedly fell asleep about 12:20 p.m. and swerved her Nissan Versa into a Ford minivan on eastbound I-290 near Irving Park Road, Illinois State Police said in a statement.

The minivan veered left into another vehicle and then struck the center median wall, state police said. The minivan’s driver, a 79-year-old McHenry woman, was taken to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, where she was pronounced dead within the hour, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

The driver of the car that caused the crash, a 28-year-old Lombard woman, collided with the center median wall, and was transported to a hospital with minor injuries, state police said.

The third vehicle involved in the crash, which the 79-year-old had veered into, overturned after impact and stopped on the left shoulder, state police said. Its driver, a 32-year-old woman from Elk Grove, was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

An autopsy released Thursday found the 79-year-old woman died of multiple injuries from the crash, the medical examiner’s office said. Her death was ruled accidental.

Eastbound lanes of the expressway were closed until 4:12 p.m., according to state police, who said the crash was still under investigation.