Man pulled from burning vehicle succumbed to crash injuries, SC coroner says
A man was killed in an early morning crash where the car he was driving hit a tree and went up in flames, the Aiken County Coroner’s Office said Sunday.
John Ways, a 31-year-old Aiken resident, was the driver who died, Coroner Darryl Ables said in a news release.
At about 4:20 a.m., Ways was driving a 2016 Ford Mustang south on Dry Branch Road, according to the release. Near the intersection with Odom Street the car ran off the left side of the road and struck a tree, then burst into flames, Ables said.
People passing by the burning vehicle pulled Ways from the car, but he died at the scene from blunt force injuries, according to Ables.
Ways was the only person in the Mustang, and no other injures were reported, according to the release.
There was no word if Ways was wearing a seat belt.
Information about what caused the Mustang to veer off the road was not available, but the wreck is being investigated by the coroner’s office and the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Toxicology analysis is pending, Ables said.
Through Monday, five people had died on South Carolina roads in 2023, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,056 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
This was at least the second deadly crash in Aiken County in 2023, according to DPS data. Last year, 28 deaths were reported in the county, DPS reported.
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This story was originally published January 8, 2023 at 2:12 PM.
