Seven people — all in one vehicle — were killed in a fiery crash in southeastern North Carolina when the car attempted to make a pass on a two-lane road and struck two other vehicles, the state Highway Patrol said Friday.
The accident happened around 6 p.m. Thursday on N.C. Highway 711 near Pembroke, which is about 90 miles northwest of Wilmington, according to troopers.
The patrol said its initial investigation found a vehicle containing the seven was traveling westbound when it crossed the center line and sideswiped another westbound vehicle.
The passing vehicle continued forward and struck an eastbound vehicle, then traveled off the road, stopped at the edge of a swamp, catching fire, a patrol crash summary said. Three of the passengers in the passing vehicle also were ejected.
The seven passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. The patrol said only one passenger had been identified but the name was withheld pending family notification. Speed appears to be a contributing factor in the wreck, but the weather has not been shown to be a contributing circumstance, the patrol said.
The driver of the eastbound vehicle, identified as 25-year-old John Hinston Dial of Pembroke, was taken to the hospital for serious but non-life threating injuries, troopers said. The westbound vehicle did not stay at the scene but it doesn't appear the motorist contributed to the collision's cause, according to the summary.
Troopers did not clarify what type of vehicle was carrying the seven passengers or if the car was overloaded. Last month, nine people were killed, and one seriously injured in Florida when an overloaded vehicle hit a guardrail and went upside down into a canal. They were driving in a 2023 Ford Explorer, which according to multiple websites, has a capacity of seven passengers. The NTSB said they were opening an investigation into the Florida crash.
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