Pedestrian hit and killed in Columbia

A Columbia man died after being hit by a car Saturday.

The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. on the 1200 block of Averyt Avenue, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said in a release Monday. That’s just off Bush River Road between Broad River Road and Interstate 126.

Aaron Lee Knight, 59, of Luster Lane in Columbia, was hit by a vehicle and died at the scene, Watts said. An autopsy indicated the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the torso and upper body.

Additional details about the incident, including any charges filed, were not immediately available.

The Columbia Police Department is investigating.

There have been 30 traffic deaths in Richland County this year compared to 34 at the same time last year, according to numbers released Monday by the S.C. Department of Public Safety.