By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
April 19, 2001
An early morning accident today on Interstate 20 involving an 18-wheeler has claimed the lives of two men.
Clayton Cobler, Lauderdale County Deputy Medical Examiner Investigator, said both men were pronounced dead at the scene near the first mile marker past the Interstate 20/59 split.
Cobler said he is not sure what caused the accident, but the westbound tractor-trailer flipped over during the accident and landed upside-down in some trees. It took more than an hour, the Jaws of Life, a chain saw, two wrecker companies and a wench hooked onto a Metro Ambulance vehicle to extricate the bodies, he said. Cobler said he does not know who owns the truck.
Emergency crews from the Lost Gap Volunteer Fire Department, Metro Ambulance, the Meridian Fire Department, the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the Lauderdale Emergency Management Agency and the Meridian Police Department responded.
Cobler said the identities of the two men, believed to be from Texas, will be released after family members have been notified.