A pregnant woman was killed in a fatal three-car accident on Old Augusta Road South in Effingham County on Saturday night.
Two vehicles were heading northbound on Old Augusta Road when one of the vehicles collided with a Chevrolet van head-on near Rincon-Stillwell Road, according to WTOC News.
The van, which was carrying two adults and two children going home after visiting extended family in Clyo, rolled over on its side. The occupants of the van were trapped in the vehicle and rescue personnel had to use the Jaws of Life hydraulic tool to extract the family.
According to the Effingham County Coroner’s Office, van passenger Alisha Powell, 26, of Townsend died at the scene of the accident. She was in the midstages of pregnancy, and her unborn baby was also killed.
The driver of the van, Alisha Powell’s husband Vernon Powell, the children, and the driver that collided with them were taken to Memorial University Medical Center’s trauma center.
The coroner and Georgia State Police both told WTOC that speed and alcohol likely played factors in the crash. Racing may have also been involved.
“It appears alcohol involvement in the other two drivers, because one of them has been charged with a DUI, he’s at the jail in Effingham,” Coroner David Exley of Effingham County Coroner’s Office told WTOC. “But the racing hasn’t been substantiated by any means so that will be up to the SCIRT team to decide those things. They’re looking into all of the causes on that.”
The driver of the car that struck the van was identified as Johnny Miller, according to Georgia State Trooper Chris Cuddington. The second driver was identified as Earl Schrack. He is currently in the Effingham County Jail without bond and faces charges of vehicular homicide, DUI and reckless driving.
The crash is still under investigation.
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