All three individuals involved in a grisly car-truck collision that closed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 26 between Saluda and Columbus on Wednesday, apparently escaped serious injury.
The crash occurred just east of Mile Marker 62, about two miles east of the Saluda exit late Wednesday morning. After the collision, many eastbound drivers exited the highway at Saluda, while other eastbound drivers on both sides of the exit faced long delays. Police closed the eastbound lanes east of Saluda, but eastbound drivers west of the exit were further delayed.
North Carolina State Police reported that Naveen Gill of Ontario, Canada, was driving a tractor-trailer east on the highway, and going too fast.
When the vehicle ran onto the paved shoulder, Gill overcompensated, and the load shifted. Kathryn Walsh was driving a passenger vehicle east at that time, and the tractor trailer struck it. Both vehicles hit the left-hand shoulder of the median, said police.
After impact, the cab and trailer of Gill’s truck separated, with the cab landing upside down in the median area between east and westbound lanes, severely damaged, while the trailer overturned on the eastbound shoulder.
Gill and his passenger, Sarabjeet Singh, also of Ontario, were taken to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, where they were discharged, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Troopers said Walsh was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital Columbus. A spokeswoman there said the hospital couldn’t release information on her. State police noted that all three individuals were restrained at the time of the collision, and did not feel that any of them was injured seriously.