May 15, 2008
Valdosta - Six people were injured in a fiery, four-vehicle pile up on Interstate 75 early Thursday morning.
Three of the four were tractor trailers. The collision blocked the south bound lanes for nearly 10 hours.
Georgia State Troopers blame low visibility for a fiery crash at 3:30 Thursday morning just a few miles north of Exit 22 in Lowndes County.
"There were two southbound tractor trailers initially. The second one struck the rear of the first one, disabling these vehicles in the roadway. A third vehicle came into the crash scene, made slight contact. Then a fourth vehicle, which was a Fed Ex tractor trailer struck the first two tractor trailers," says Sgt. 1st Class Carl Taylor.
That collision sent the Fed Ex truck crashing into the median. The truck exploded and all the packages it was hauling burned up.
All the truck drivers and their passengers were transported to South Georgia Medical Center with serious injuries. "It's extremely fortunate that there are no fatalities of the people in the crash itself."
That accident blocked all lanes and had traffic backed up into Cook County. At exit 29, Troopers, Hahira Police, and Lowndes County deputies rerouted southbound traffic back to Valdosta via 122.
Driver told us they were stuck for several hours. "Its very rare we have the interstate completely block of this nature for this period of time. part of that also was a result of the extent of the crash itself, the debris and so forth and the fire consuming the tractor trailer and the contents in it," Taylor says.
38-year-old Cesar Vargas, the driver of the Fed Ex truck, is in fair condition at South Georgia Medical Center.
59 year-old Dennis Hector's Leggett and Platt truck ran into a Shoreline Transportation Truck driven by 47 year-old Marvin Thomas.
Thomas is in fair condition. Hector was transferred to Shands hospital in Gainsville.
Each driver had a passenger. They're all being treated in Valdosta or Gainesville.
The debris was cleared and all lanes reopened around 1:00 PM. Troopers say charges are pending and it will be several days before the investigation is complete.
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