Two killed in early-morning wreck on Midlands-area road, SC Highway Patrol says
Two people were killed and another was hurt in an early-morning crash on a Midlands-area road, South Carolina Highway Patrol said Sunday.
The collision happened at about 3:30 a.m. on U.S. 176, near the intersection with Woolbright Road, Lance Cpl. Tyler Tidwell said. That’s close to Lake Marion in the Santee area.
A 2010 Nissan Maxima was heading west on U.S. 176 when it ran off the right side of the road, according to Tidwell. The driver overcorrected and the Nissan veered across the road and ran off the left shoulder where it hit a tree, Tidwell said.
A front- and backseat passenger were killed in the wreck, and the driver was taken to an area hospital, according to Tidwell.
The Orangeburg County Coroner’s Office will publicly identify the people killed in the crash after notifying the next of kin.
Information on the driver’s condition was not available.
There was no word if any of the occupants were wearing a seat belt, but the collision is being investigated by Highway Patrol.
It was not the only deadly collision in Orangeburg County overnight. There was a wreck reported at about 11:30 p.m. by Highway Patrol.
A passenger in a 2007 Chevrolet truck died after the pickup ran off Cabin Road and hit a ditch before crashing into a driveway culvert and a tree, Tidwell said.
The passenger was not wearing a seat belt, according to Tidwell.
The driver of the pickup truck, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to a hospital in Orangeburg before being moved to Prisma Health Richland, Tidwell said.
Further information on the driver’s condition was not available.
Like the other unrelated collision, it remains under investigation by Highway Patrol.
Through Friday afternoon, 811 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Of those, 551 of the victims had access to seat belts, but 290 were not wearing them, DPS reported.
There have been at least 26 people killed in Orangeburg County crashes in 2020, and seat belts were not used in at least 17 of the collisions, according to DPS.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published October 25, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
