A woman was killed Thursday when Purdue University’s Boilermaker Special collided with a car on an Indiana highway.
The crash occurred around 4 p.m. on U.S. 52 near the West Lafayette school, the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office said. It was traveling north on the highway when it veered across the median and plowed into a southbound car, killing the woman driving the passenger car. Photos from the scene showed the maroon car crumpled.
The victim’s identity was not released.
Two people aboard the Boilermaker Special were not seriously injured, the sheriff’s office said.
The Boilermaker Special is a roadworthy vehicle designed to look like a 19th century locomotive, but sits on a truck chassis. It is the school’s official mascot.
Lyndsay Lehr, who witnessed the crash and called 911, told Lafayette Journal & Courier the Boilermaker Special blew a tire before colliding with the car directly behind it.
The sheriff’s department told the Purdue Exponent the Boilermaker Special overcorrected while swerving to avoid something.
The school has not yet commented on the incident.
