4 killed in fiery wreck on I-75 NB in Henry County
ATLANTA (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Henry County Police said a tractor-trailer carrying rubber particles and a 2013 Chevrolet 2500 pickup with four occupants pulling a trailer containing pine straw slowed due to traffic. A second tractor-trailer carrying potatoes rear-ended the pickup truck, pushing it into the first tractor-trailer, police said.
Police said the four people in the pickup truck, which was registered in Laurens County, Georgia, were killed in the crash. The identities of those deceased have not yet been released.
The driver of the second tractor-trailer was taken to an Atlanta-area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the first tractor-trailer did not receive significant injuries.
The names of both tractor-trailer drivers have not yet been released.
The collision caused a fire. SKYFOX 5 flew over the scene about 1 p.m. as cleanup on the crash continued. Firefighters still had hoses drawn around the second tractor-trailer; its cab was completely destroyed in the fire. The grass nearby also caught fire.
SKYFOX 5 also spotted a couple large bags of rubber particles were tossed on the roadway with the trailer of the rig damaged in the back. Bales of pine straw were also strewn about the crash site, including onto of the second tractor-trailer.
Northbound lanes of traffic reopened around 5:40 p.m. and the highway was completely cleared a little after 9 p.m. Traffic was being routed off the interstate at the Highway 155 NB Exit and traffic in both directions was backed up for several miles.
No word on if charges will be filed against the second tractor-trailer driver. Police said the accident was still under investigation late Thursday evening.
And just about an hour before that fatal crash traffic on I-75 in Henry County was at a standstill because of a separate, multi-vehicle accident.
This one was in the northbound lanes at I-675.
No injuries were reported in that crash.