SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) -
On
Tuesday, a crash on the Back River Bridge in South Carolina stopped traffic
into and from South Carolina over the Talmadge Memorial Bridge.
The bridge reopened Tuesday
night at 11:30 p.m. after being closed for over six hours.
South Carolina state troopers
say Mr. Wagner, 80, of Bluffton, who was driving a 2006 Mercedes Benz, was trying to pass a car when he slammed head
on into another car, a 1994 Cadillac being driven by Shawn Walls, 43, of
Hardeeville. Then, a tractor trailer, which was being driven by Floyd Prentis,
59, of Savannah, hit one of those cars.
"We had a report that
someone was trapped in a vehicle. Initial reports were someone went off the
bridge so we were dispatched for a technical rescue," said Mark Keller,
Savannah Fire.
When fire crews arrived, they
realized no one went over the bridge but it was serious.
"There was one person
trapped in one of the vehicles and there was a second vehicle of fire,"
said Keller.
Life Star flew Walls to
Memorial and Wagner was taken by ambulance to Coastal Carolina.
According to authorities,
diesel leaked from the tractor trailer, which caused a major cleanup.
Fire crews say 60 to 70 feet of
the Back River Bridge's railing was taken out by the wreck.
Department of Transportation
crews from Georgia and South Carolina are continuing to inspecting the bridge.
Traffic going to Hutchinson
Island from Savannah was allowed to continue, according to Savannah-Chatham
Metro Police.
All traffic from
Savannah was being rerouted to Louisville Road to the US 25/17 or Houlihan
Bridge, according to police.
Wagner has been charged with
reckless driving.
Walls
is currently in good condition.
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