Fatal Truck Accident Kills Five Nursing Students

Five Georgia Southern University nursing students were killed in a fatal truck accident near Savannah this week. Three other victims, including two other nursing students, were also injured in the crash. The fatal truck accident involved a small sedan, an SUV, a tanker truck and a tractor trailer. The crash stopped traffic for more than six hours on the eastbound side of Interstate 16 as police searched for clues as to its cause. A preliminary report showed that neither weather nor visibility were factors in the accident.

Details of the Fatal Truck Accident

The fatal truck accident occurred about 20 miles west of Savannah just after 6 a.m. The early stages of the investigation have shown that traffic in the area was heavy due to an unrelated accident a mile ahead of the site. A tractor-trailer failed to slow down in the stop-and-go traffic. The 18 wheeler struck an SUV carrying the nursing students, rolled over a passenger car, and caught fire. The rig collided with a tanker truck, then stopped in an embankment, its cab caved in from the collision.

Police Investigate Fatal Truck Accident

State and local authorities are investigating the causes of the fatal truck accident. They have yet to determine why the tractor-trailer failed to slow down as it reached the bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic. Sgt. Chris Rodewolt of the Georgia State Patrol told local reporters that the weather was “clear as a bell,” and that visibility was not a factor in the fatal truck accident. Sgt. 1st Class Chris Nease of the Georgia State Patrol told the media that the truck driver had not been cited pending the results of the investigation.

Trooper: Fatal Truck Accident “A Terrible Day”

The combination of the earlier collision and the fatal truck accident created problems for drivers all along the interstate. Several ambulances were called to carry the victims to local medical facilities. Crews required several hours to clear the wrecked vehicles from the site. State troopers closed a six-mile stretch of highway as they investigated the fatal truck accident. Sgt. Nease called it “a terrible day” and said that his troopers are “still trying to piece it all together.”

GSU President Calls Fatal Truck Accident “Incomprehensible”

GSU President Brooks Keel released a statement that called the loss of five students in the fatal truck accident “almost incomprehensible.” He announced that the university’s flag will fly at half-staff in their memory. He called on students, faculty and administrators at the Statesboro campus “to support each other during this time.” Sherry Danello, chief nursing officer for the St. Joseph’s/ Candler Health System, supervised the nursing program where the women were undergoing their training. She told reporters that the students “really connected to the patients” and “really loved what they did.”

Source: WCBD-TV

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