MAY 20, 2015
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
Five Georgians ranging in age from 16 to 72 and hailing from
the far northwest corner of the state to the southeast corner died Tuesday
afternoon in the second fiery pileup in a month on I-16 near Savannah.
According to Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Franka Young,
traffic had come to a halt for construction on I-16 eastbound near I-95 in
Pooler when the driver of a tractor-trailer failed to stop.
The tractor-trailer struck three cars and a pickup truck
before hitting another tractor-trailer, which then struck a third
tractor-trailer.
Two of the tractor-trailers and one of the cars, a Honda,
caught fire, Young said.
The two people in the Honda were killed, along with three
people in the Hyundai that was the first vehicle struck by the tractor-trailer.
Young identified those killed in the Hyundai as Wendy
Melton, 39, of Reidsville, Brittanie Altman, 16, of Claxton, and Virgil Moody,
19, of Hagan, a small town near Claxton.
A tractor trailer sits on top of a crushed car after a
multiple car accident on I-16 in Pooler, Ga. on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (Ian
Maule/Savannah Morning News via AP)
The two people killed in the Honda were identified as Jerry
Earnest, 71, of Varnell in northwest Georgia, and Glenda Adams, 72, of Cohutta,
also in northwest Georgia.
The driver of the tractor-trailer that slammed into the cars
was identified as David Gibbons, 61, of Pooler.
Pooler police Chief Mark Revenew said Gibbons survived the
crash with no serious injuries.
Young said Gibbons, who works for Georgia Freightways, was
pulling an empty trailer to Savannah when the wreck occurred.
“It’s too early to tell, but early indications are the
driver may have fallen asleep,” said Revenew, whose officers are helping the
Georgia State Patrol investigate the crash.
She said charges are pending the completion of the
investigation.
The deadly collision happened less than a month after an
April 22 crash involving a tractor-trailer on I-16 killed five nursing students
from Georgia Southern University. The earlier wreck happened less than 20 miles
west of the crash Tuesday afternoon.