A City of Cincinnati employee has died after a crash on the Norwood Lateral Thursday afternoon, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.The sheriff's office said just before 12:45 p.m., Norwood police requested assista nce from the HCSO Traffic Safety Unit for a three-vehicle crash on the Lateral, or SR-562.According to the sheriff's office, a City of Cincinnati maintenance pickup truck with an attached trailer was driving west on the Lateral at the 1.8 mile marker. Three employees were working on a traffic project.A Metro bus was driving west on the Lateral, approaching the pickup truck from behind. The bus hit the pickup truck and pushed it forward into the trailer of another pickup truck, the sheriff's office said.One of the City employees was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, where they later died.HCSO did not release the identity of the victim.The Metro bus driver was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment of injuries. HCSO said it does not know the extent of those injuries.The crash was just west of I-71 and drivers were diverted off the Lateral at Ridge Road. The westbound lanes of the Lateral were shut down for hours following the crash, but have reopened.City Manager Sheryl Long issued the following statement Thursday evening:"This afternoon, two City trucks with the Department of Public Services were hit from behind as they were doing scheduled work on the Norwood Lateral. Tragically, one DPS employee died from his injuries. Another employee was also hurt but is expected to be ok. To put it plainly, we are heartbroken. Out of respect for the families, we will not be publicly sharing employee identities until next of kin is notified," Long said. "I often refer to City staff as Team Cincy because we are not just coworkers, we are family; and today we lost one of our own. We are focused on providing support to staff grappling with this sudden and shocking loss and will continue to work with local authorities as the investigation continues. Please join me in praying for all involved. ...read more read less