2 killed on icy I-75 in Macon amid multi-vehicle crashes

Icy roads are blamed for multiple crashes on interstate highways in Macon after up to two inches of snow fell in some places Wednesday morning.

At about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, two people in a 2000 Honda Civic died on Interstate 75 just north of Hartley Bridge Road in south Bibb County.

Coroner Leon Jones said driver Thanh Nguyen, 48, of Halidon Drive in Warner Robins, was outside of his car when he suffered his fatal injuries.

Bibb County sheriff's traffic investigators determined the northbound Nguyen lost control and spun out into the guardrail facing south.

As Nguyen was outside of the car, Gary Cumming, 26, was headed north from Houston County in a 2006 Ford Mustang.

Cumming was moving over into the right lane, hit a patch of ice and slid across the highway.

Cumming's Mustang struck Nguyen and then rolled backwards into the Civic, killing the passenger, Nguyen's brother-in-law, Tuan Nguyen, 63, of Hatch Bend Court in Warner Robins.

The men were on their way to work at Sakura's restaurant on Shurling Drive in east Macon, Jones said.

Both the driver and passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, which was about a mile south of the Pio Nono Avenue exit.

"The driver of the Mustang is not injured, but naturally, he's shook up," Jones said.

Only one lane of I-75 was open as investigators gathered evidence at the scene.

A tractor trailer and a medical transport vehicle also went off I-75 north of the fatal crash scene.

Interstate 475 was completely blocked by a series of earlier crashes on the snow-covered I-75 overpass.

A vehicle hit the guardrail in the northbound lanes and Macon-Bibb County firefighters responded to the crash, just north of Hartley Bridge Road and I-75.

Fire ladder truck 37 was blocking the crash when a tractor trailer skidded on the icy bridge and slammed into the back of the fire truck.

Macon-Bibb Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said the truck's positioning prevented firefighters, other first responders and the accident victims from getting hit and possibly seriously hurt by the sliding tractor trailer.

"That truck actually saved them," Riggins said.

A pickup pulling a trailer, another tractor trailer and another pickup pulling a U-Haul piled up on the highway which was covered with icy snow.

No one was seriously hurt in that multi-vehicle crash that occurred about 8 a.m.

Roadways were extremely icy after snow fell after 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing until late Thursday morning, so motorists are urged to stay off the roads, if possible.

I-75 South at Interstate 16 also was shut down by a multi-vehicle crash just after 7:30 a.m.

Numerous crashes were reported across Middle Georgia due to icy roads.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 10:16 AM with the headline "2 killed on icy I-75 in Macon amid multi-vehicle crashes."