Runaway tractor-trailer rolls onto I-85, kills woman

From Associated Press News

GASTONIA, N.C. - A mother of four was killed and six family members injured when a parked tractor-trailer rolled onto Interstate 85 and hit their southbound SUV because the driver had not put on the truck's emergency brake, authorities said Sunday. 

Maria Raquel Alvarez Gallardo, 42, died at the scene Saturday, officials said. The accident left her children, ages 19, 17, 15 and 9, her husband, and his mother with serious injuries, authorities said. 

Injured family members were taken to Gaston Memorial Hospital, and at least one of them had life-threatening injuries. Their conditions were not available late Sunday.

Alvarez was driving her family in their 2000 GMC Yukon to a week-long trip in Mexico early Saturday. 

An unoccupied US Food Service tractor-trailer parked in the center lane on a nearby road unexpectedly started to move. It rolled headfirst about 1,000 feet down the road, crossed the off ramp at Exit 21, then rolled down a steep embankment, police said.

The truck ran over a guardrail into southbound I-85 and hit the highway median as Alvarez's SUV rammed into it.