EL PASO, Texas -- A truck driver is in the hospital after a tire from another truck hit him. Investigators said a pick-up truck driving on I-10 West near Geronimo lost a tire on a load it was carrying. The tire bounced from the I-10 West to I-10 East, striking the driver of a semitrailer. The tire went through the windshield of the semitrailer. Witnesses said they tried to help the truck driver.

“I started running to stop the tractor and I went inside,” said Humberto Urena. “When I went inside the driver was on the floor knocked down with glass on his face. And the tire was in his face. He was bleeding.”

The driver was taken to Thomason Hospital.

“We don’t have a condition on him as of right now,” said El Paso Police spokesman Javier Sambrano.

The accident backed up traffic for miles while officers investigated. I-10 East from Gernonimo back to Raynolds was shut down for a few hours after the accident.

Officers said they are not sure if the driver of first the semitrailer even knows that a tire is missing.