Fiery wrong-way collision, crash in pond kill 3 near Dublin in Thanksgiving travel

A fiery wrong-way crash on Interstate 16 made Laurens County one of the deadliest spots in Georgia during the Thanksgiving travel weekend.

Just before 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Jack Deacon Harris, 20, of Kennesaw, and Garret Harris, 18, of Dallas, died when their Saturn L200 caught fire in a head-on collision near Dublin.

According to the Georgia State Patrol’s preliminary report, Jared Adler, of Sandy Springs, was headed west in an eastbound lane of I-16 near mile post 34 when his Toyota Avalon hit the Harrises’ vehicle.

The Harrises were pronounced dead at the scene, Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley III said.

Just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Dublin’s Markel Johnson lost control of his 2008 Honda Civic on Buckeye Road in Laurens County, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

Markel’s car hit a shallow ditch and overturned into a pond about a mile north of Blackshear’s Ferry.

Johnson was not wearing a seat belt and died in the crash.

A dozen people died on Georgia roads during the Thanksgiving holiday travel period from 6 p.m. Wednesday until midnight Sunday.

The Athens post of the Georgia State Patrol worked two fatal accidents that killed three people before 6 a.m. Thursday.

During the 102-hour traffic period, troopers investigated 627 crashes with 294 injuries.

Over the holiday weekend, 299 people were arrested for DUI, 11, 289 citations were given and 15,619 warnings were issued.

Last year, 13 people died in 648 crashes with 347 injuries on Georgia roads, and 292 people were charged with DUI.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Fiery wrong-way collision, crash in pond kill 3 near Dublin in Thanksgiving travel."