Body found behind the wheel of burning vehicle, South Carolina coroner says
One person was killed overnight in South Carolina when a vehicle was involved in a fiery crash, according to the Oconee County Coroner’s Office.
The single-vehicle collision happened around midnight Sunday, officials said.
A 2004 Nissan pickup truck was driving east on Park Avenue in the Salem area, said Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Near the intersection with S.C. 130 in South Carolina’s Upstate region — near state lines with Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina — the pickup ran off the left side of the road, according to Pye.
The pickup crashed into a parked car and an embankment, Pye said. The pickup then caught fire, according to Coroner Karl Addis.
Salem Fire-Rescue responded and after extinguishing the fire, discovered a body in the driver’s seat, Addis said.
Pye said that the driver was the only person in the pickup, and no other injuries were reported.
The victim was not publicly identified by the coroner’s office, but he is believed to be a 62-year-old man based on the vehicle identification number and items in the pickup that were not destroyed by the fire, Addis said. An autopsy will be scheduled this week to assist with the death investigation and the victim’s name is expected to be released following that examination, according to Addis.
Information about what caused the pickup to veer off the road was not available, but the crash continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.
Through April 5, at least 195 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2026, according to the state Department of Public Safety. A minimum of 914 people were killed in collisions in South Carolina in 2025, DPS data shows.
At least four people have died in Oconee County crashes this year, and 17 people died in wrecks there in 2025, according to DPS data.
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