Fiery, head-on highway crash kills one, leaves another hospitalized, SC cops say
One driver was killed and another was injured Sunday in a fiery crash on a major interstate where a car was going the wrong way and hit a pickup truck head on, South Carolina Highway Patrol said.
The collision happened at about 6 a.m. near mile marker 22 on Interstate 385, according to Master Trooper Brandon Bolt. That’s in the Fountain Inn area of Laurens County, near Exit 22 on I-385, which is the junction with S.C. 14.
A 2019 Ford F150 was driving south on I-385 and collided with a 2016 Toyota Corolla that was heading north in the southbound lanes, Bolt said.
When the vehicles hit, the pickup truck flipped over and caught on fire, according to Bolt.
The Greenville man who was driving the truck was wearing a seat belt and was taken to an area hospital, Bolt said. Further information on his condition was not available.
The person driving the Toyota, who was not wearing a seat belt, was entrapped in the car and had to be mechanically extricated, according to Bolt.
The Toyota driver died at the scene, Bolt said.
The Laurens County Coroner’s Office is expected to publicly identify the Toyota driver after notifying the next of kin.
No other injuries were reported.
There was no word about how the Toyota wound up going the wrong way in the southbound lanes, but the crash continues to be investigated by Highway Patrol.
Through Friday afternoon, 1,056 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2021, state Department of Public Safety data shows. Of those, 698 of the victims had access to seat belts, but 343 were not wearing them, DPS reported.
At least 18 people have been killed in Laurens County crashes in 2021, and 11 of them were not wearing seat belts, DPS reported.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 8:11 AM.
