Catastrophic pileup spreads death and fire across I-16; tractor-trailer driver charged
A driver has been charged with vehicular homicide after a fiery crash involving eight vehicles killed at least three people on Interstate 16 on Tuesday evening.
The wreck happened about 5:30 p.m. just east of the exit for Ocmulgee Boulevard in the westbound lanes.
Two people died at the scene. Three crash victims were rushed to a hospital in critical condition. One of them died in the emergency room at the Medical Center, Navicent Health, in Macon.
Gerard Thompson, the driver of the tractor trailer that Bibb County sheriff’s investigators believe started the pileup, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of reckless driving, a release from the sheriff’s office said.
Thompson, 49, of Palmetto, was taken to the Bibb County jail.
“Three vehicles are burned beyond recognition,” Macon-Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones told The Telegraph near the scene of the crash. “That’s an 18-wheeler that ran on top of a pickup truck and a small vehicle.”
A body in the small car was burned beyond recognition, as was a body inside the pickup truck, Jones said.
“There’s a body in the back of the pickup truck (and) we don’t know if it’s a human or an animal,” Jones said.
One person on the bus, which was traveling from Greater New Friendship Baptist Church in Dublin, had a heart attack, Jones said.
“It’s been a bad day for Macon-Bibb,” Jones said. “Actually, to be honest with you, it’s been a bad year for Macon-Bibb. We’ve just had multiple fatalities like every month.”
Both directions of traffic were re-routed off the exit after the crash.
The identities of the deceased are being withheld until next of kin are contacted.
Anyone with information about the accident is urged to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500.
Laura Corley: 478-744-4334, @Lauraecor
This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 8:54 PM with the headline "Catastrophic pileup spreads death and fire across I-16; tractor-trailer driver charged."