A devastating truck accident in Wilkinson County leaves one person dead

WILKINSON COUNTY, Georgia — A truck driver died after a devastating crash in Wilkinson County Tuesday afternoon, according to Coroner Billy Matthews. It happened at the intersection of SR-112 and U.S. Highway 441.

He said the accident involved two semi-truck drivers, and after one of the trucks rammed the other, both vehicles burst into flames, Matthews said.

“It was chaos,” Matthews said of the scene.

The coroner’s office was called to the scene around 3:25 p.m. and all lanes of SR-112 are closed in both directions. The driver was pronounced dead around 5 p.m

As of 6 p.m., the Georgia 511 website lists the estimated end time as 7 p.m., but that is subject to change.

“This is pretty bad,” Matthews said. “We’ll be lucky if we get out of here by midnight.”

According to Deputy Coroner Gusty Thomas, a truck was traveling on SR-112 toward Allentown. Thomas said the driver on SR-112 failed to stop and drove through the intersection, causing the driver traveling north on Highway 441 to strike them.

According to Thomas, it was not possible to identify the victim due to the burns. They currently believe the victim is a man, but they have not been able to confirm this, he says.

One of the trucks was loaded and the other was empty, Matthews said. He says the driver, whose truck was loaded, died in the accident.

The Georgia State Patrol says troopers are on scene and will release more information as it becomes available.

Matthews says the driver who survived the crash was from California, but they are unsure where the driver who died was from.

This is a developing story. We will provide further information as it becomes available. 13WMAZ sent a reporter to the scene to hopefully get more information.

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