Woman dies, 4 injured after SUV hits tractor on Interstate 26

One woman is dead and four people, including three children, were injured after a sport utility vehicle struck a tractor that had been mowing grass on a median of Interstate 26 in Berkeley County this morning , authorities said.

The wreck happened at 9:17 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-26 near the 189 mile marker. The SUV driver , 23-year -old Kayla Hunt of St. George, was pronounced dead at the scene from head and body trauma, Coroner Bill Salisbury said.

A 2007 New Holland tractor with a bush hog on the rear, used for cutting grass in the median, was in left lane when it was struck by a 2001 Oldsmobile SUV, Cpl. Bob Beres said.

The SUV went off the right side of the road and caught fire. The unrestrained driver died in the crash. Three children under the age of 5 were taken to Medical University Hospital. All were properly buckled, Beres said.

The condition of the children was not immediately available this afternoon.

The driver of the tractor, 21-year-old Alonzo- Jose Luis Montiel, was also taken to the hospital.

Traffic was delayed for hours after the crash but all lanes are open now. The patrol's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team is investigating the crash.