The causeway between Cedar Bluff and Centre was shut down for several hours late Friday night into early Saturday morning in the wake of a head on collision between an 18 wheeler and a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.

The pickup struck the 18 wheeler head on and caromed into the guardrail where it came to rest and the driver had to be extricated from the vehicle by members of the Cedar Bluff Fire Department and the Cherokee County Rescue Squad.

That individual, identified as Jose Rodriquez, age 39 of Rossville, Georgia, was transported to a landing zone at Cedar Bluff School, before being air-lifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga

The passenger, 35 year old Francisco Perez, also from Rossville, was taken by ambulance to a Rome area hospital for treatment.

No update was available on the condition of either victim. Meanwhile, the driver of the big rig, listed on the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency accident report as Texas resident, Scott McCord, although visibly shaken up, was not injured.

(WEIS Radio)