One killed in pair of Interstate 26 accidents

A Georgia man died Thursday in one of two accidents on Interstate 26 that reduced afternoon rush-hour traffic to a trickle.

At about 4:30 p.m., an eastbound 18-wheel tractor-trailer rig went off the left side of the interstate, between Summerville and Jedburg, and crashed into trees in the median.

Clyde Bennett, 52, of Augusta, was pronounced dead at the scene, Berkeley County Coroner Bill Salisbury said. He ruled the death an accident, with the cause being head and body trauma. Bennett was wearing his seat belt, Salisbury said.

The accident, near mile marker 198, is being investigated by the Coroner’s Office, the Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police, he said.

Also about 4:30 p.m., a sport utility vehicle burst into flames in a multi-vehicle collison in the interstate’s westbound lanes in the Midland Park Road area. No information was released about the incident by the S.C. Highway Patrol, which is conducting the investigation.

Meanwhile, at about the same time in Charleston, police were investigating a two-vehicle accident that sent two people to a hospital.

A vehicle on Wentworth Street ran a red light and collided with a vehicle on Coming Street that had the green light, police spokesman Charles Francis said.

He said the occupants of the vehicles were taken to Medical University Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

One of the vehicles crashed into a building, and the driver had to be freed by firefighters and rescue workers using the “jaws of life” to cut away parts of the vehicle.