❓WHAT HAPPENED: A trucker who allegedly killed three people in a reckless driving incident on Interstate 81 in Virginia is being charged with three counts of involuntary manslaughter.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: El Hadji Karamoko Ouattara, a 58-year-old naturalized citizen who initially immigrated illegally from the Ivory Coast, and six victims, including three who died.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The incident occurred on December 22 on Interstate 81 in Virginia.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We are going to use every resource, every tool that we have at DOT, to make sure that we have the right people on our road that are well qualified, well licensed.” – Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
🎯IMPACT: The case has reignited concerns about unqualified, illegal immigrant drivers and lax licensing practices in certain states.
El Hadji Karamoko Ouattara, a 58-year-old Maryland resident originally from the Ivory Coast, is facing three counts of involuntary manslaughter following a fatal crash on Interstate 81 in Virginia that killed three people, including a toddler. According to authorities, Ouattara was driving a tractor-trailer that left the roadway and struck a minivan. Six people from the minivan were transported to a nearby hospital. Three later died from their injuries: 65-year-old Lorraine Renee Williams, 49-year-old Ebony Latasha Williams, and 2-year-old Shazziyah Lesley. Three others survived, including a 63-year-old man, a 73-year-old man, and a 10-year-old girl, all of whom sustained injuries.
Ouattara was initially charged with reckless driving, but prosecutors have since upgraded the charges to involuntary manslaughter. The Roanoke County Sheriff’s Office identified him as a resident of Montgomery Village, Maryland. A federal law enforcement source told Fox News that Ouattara entered the United States illegally in the 1990s, later obtained a green card, and eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The crash has renewed attention on commercial driver licensing standards and enforcement, particularly as they relate to vetting, training, and language proficiency. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has made trucking safety a central focus of the Department of Transportation, citing concerns about unqualified illegal immigrant drivers operating commercial vehicles.
“We are going to use every resource, every tool that we have at DOT, to make sure that we have the right people on our road that are well qualified, well licensed. That are proficient in the English language to make sure we’re maximizing safety,” Duffy said.
Earlier this month, Duffy announced that California revoked approximately 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses that were issued without proper federal vetting. The DOT has also ordered the closure of roughly 3,000 trucking schools nationwide after investigations found widespread violations of federal training standards, including falsified records and inadequate instruction. Thousands of additional schools have been warned they could lose certification if they fail to comply.
The department has also warned several states that they could lose federal transportation funding for failing to enforce English-language proficiency requirements for commercial drivers. California has already filed a lawsuit against the federal government over withheld funds tied to those rules.
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