KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE TUESDAY: A Jefferson City man and a Morristown woman died Monday morning in a head-on crash on Interstate 40 West near Midway Road, according to the Knoxville Police Department.
KPD on Tuesday afternoon identified the deceased as Randall Ball, 58, and Latisha Beck, 56.
The third victim, a 48-year-old man, is still in the hospital with critical injuries. His name has not been released.
According to KPD, the 48-year-old man was driving a truck eastbound that crossed from the eastbound lanes through the median and then collided with Ball and Beck as they traveled west in an SUV.
The man's truck then collided with a tractor-trailer. Ball and Beck died at the scene.
The tractor-trailer driver was not hurt.
PREVIOUS STORY: The Knoxville Police Department said two people died and one person was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a crash involving several vehicles on Interstate 40 Monday morning.
The wreck happened on I-40 West near Midway Road around 7:18 a.m., according to TDOT.
I-40 West between exits 402 and 407 had to be closed to traffic for hours as crews responded.
As of 11:30 a.m., KPD said I-40 had reopened to traffic.
According to KPD, it's believed a pick-up truck driving east on I-40 crossed the median for "reasons that remain unknown" and hit an SUV that was traveling west. KPD said the truck then hit a semi-truck.
Two people inside the SUV were pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver of the pick-up truck was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
The semi-truck driver was not hurt, KPD said.
Police are withholding the identities of the victims until they can notify their next of kin.
KPD said crash reconstruction investigators were on the scene and the Sevierville Police Department helped divert traffic.