COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The South Carolina Highway Patrol says three people died before dawn Sunday in a wreck near Columbia.
The driver and two passengers in a Dodge Ram pickup died after the truck hit a tree in dense retail area along U.S. 1 near Interstate 77 on the north side of Columbia, Master Trooper Brian Lee told news outlets.
The truck ran off the left side of the road and smashed into a tree, Lee said. Troopers didn’t immediately release a cause of the wreck.
The Richland County Coroner’s Office will publicly identify the crash victims after notifying the families and performing autopsies.
None of the three people in the truck was wearing a seat belt, according to Lee.
Before Sunday, 513 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety.
The crash remains under investigation by Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
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