Ellsworth airman, Good Samaritan killed by semitruck on icy highway

HOT SPRINGS, S.D. — Authorities say an airman stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base and another man who had stopped to help him following a crash were struck and killed by a semi that veered off an icy highway in southwestern South Dakota.

The Highway Patrol Tuesday identified the victims of Friday's crash as 25-year-old Airman Rueben Gilbert. The Air Force says Gilbert was a member of the 28th Communications Squadron at Ellsworth.

The other man killed was 27-year-old Christopher Swope of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The patrol says Gilbert lost control of his car on Highway 18 near Hot Springs, entered the ditch and rolled over. Swope stopped to help and both men were struck as they stood in the ditch by the semi that slid off the highway and jackknifed. The semi driver suffered serious injuries.

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