Tractor-trailer accident closes W.Va. 9 near Va. border

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- A tractor-trailer hauling mulch and topsoil overturned along W.Va. 9 east of Charles Town Friday morning, closing a mountainous section of the busy highway connecting to Loudoun County, Va., for more than four hours,  police said. 

The driver, Jason Butler of Fredericksburg, Va., was treated for minor injuries at Jefferson Memorial Hospital after emergency officials freed him from the tractor cab, according to a news release from West Virginia State Police First Sgt. E.D. Burnett. 

The blue 1996 Freightliner owned by GCS Trucking Services was en route to make a delivery at Home Depot in Ranson, W.Va., when it overturned near Hostler Road, just before State Police Trooper M.J. Glende responded to the accident at 6:50 a.m., according to Burnett.

Glende found the tractor in roadside ditch and the trailer blocking the highway, Burnett said. 

Butler told police that the accident happened because of road conditions as he slowed down to go into a turn and believed that the weight of his load caused the truck to overturn and slide down the roadway, go into the ditch and strike the embankment where his vehicle came to rest, Burnett said.