One person has died, two seriously injured in head on collision near South Congaree

South Congaree, SC 06/30/2021 (Paul Kirby) – One person has died, and two others were seriously injured after a head on collision on Edmund Highway near Tina Drive Tuesday evening. This crash occurred at 8:43 p.m. just west of the Town of South Congaree’s town limits.

According to Lance Corporal Tyler Tidwell of the SC Highway Patrol, this was a head on collision. Tidwell said that one of the vehicles, a 2013 Chevy Cruze, was travelling east on Edmund Hwy toward South Congaree with a driver and one passenger on board. As they reached the intersection of Tina Drive, a 2002 GMC Yukon that was heading west toward Pelion crossed the centerline of the highway and struck the smaller vehicle. The driver of the Cruze, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene. Both the passenger in the car and the driver of the Yukon were seriously injured and transported to the trauma center at Prisma Health’s Palmetto Richland for treatment of multiple injuries.

The impact of the collision was so great that it trapped the driver of the Cruze in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Personnel from Lexington County’s EMS pronounced that individual dead at the scene.

As of 6:00 a.m. Wednesday, Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher’s office had not released the identity of the decedent. This is done after Coroner Fisher is assured that the victim’s next of kin has been properly notified.

Edmund Highway remained closed for approximately two hours as troopers conducted their preliminary investigation. At this point they have not said why the Yukon drifted across the road into the oncoming lanes of traffic.