WILKINSON COUNTY, Ga. — A truck driver is dead after a devastating crash in Wilkinson County Tuesday afternoon, according to Coroner Billy Matthews. It happened at the intersection SR-112 and U.S. Highway 441.
He says the crash involved two semi-truck drivers. After one of the trucks t-boned the other, Matthews said both vehicles erupted in flames.
“It was a mess,” Matthews said of the scene.
The coroner’s office was called to the crash at around 3:25 p.m., and all lanes of SR-112 are closed in both directions. The driver was pronounced dead at around 5 p.m.
“This is pretty bad,” Matthews said. “We’re going to be lucky if we get out of here by midnight.”
A press release from Georgia State Patrol says that a blue 2022 Freightliner was heading west on SR-112 and failed to stop at the intersection with U.S. Highway 441. Then, a white Freightliner on Highway 441 was struck by the other semi-truck, causing the white truck to erupt into flames. The driver was still in the cab.
They say the driver was able to get out of the cab, but he was "engulfed in flames." He collapsed in the road and would die from his injuries, the Georgia State Patrol said.
Due to the burns, Thomas says they have not been able to identify the victim. At this time, they believe the victim is a man, but he says they have not been able to confirm that.
According to the state patrol, they say the other driver was taken to the hospital with a broken leg.
One of the trucks was loaded and the other one was empty, Matthews said. He says the driver whose truck was loaded was the one killed in the crash.
Matthews says the driver who survived the wreck was from California, but they aren’t sure where the driver who died is from.
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