A driver may have been following GPS navigation when he drove off the ramp to a demolished bridge in northwest Indiana that had been closed since 2009, killing his wife, police said.
Zohra Hussain, 51, of Chicago died of burns after the car caught fire following the 37-foot plunge Saturday morning onto property owned by BP. Her 64-year-old husband, Iftikhar Hussain, survived.
Lake County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Patricia Van Til said the road is marked with numerous barricades including orange barrels and cones, large wood signs stating "Road Closed" with orange striped markings and concrete barricades across the road.
Iftikhar Hussain apparently drove around the barricades and off the bridge. When it crashed, he exited the vehicle and ran, leaving his wife behind in the passenger seat, just moments before the car became engulfed in flames, police said.
He was taken to Methodist Hospital in Gary, where his condition stabilized, police said.
Construction of a new bridge over the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal is scheduled to begin this spring.
