Area 45 Truck falls off I 64
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Two people trapped in a pickup truck after it dropped more than 50
feet off the side of an interstate bridge are in stable condition
at a Charleston hospital.
Charleston Police Lt. Shawn Williams said Angela Combs, 34, of
Evans, and Bryant Harris, 36, of Charleston, escaped the accident
with no life-threatening injuries.
About 11 a.m. today, Combs was driving a pickup truck headed
westbound on the Oakwood Road entrance ramp of Interstate 64, and
Harris was a passenger.
Williams said Combs lost control of the vehicle, bounced back and
forth between the ramp's retaining walls and went over the
guardrail. The truck dropped 50 to 60 feet between two interstate
ramps and landed in a median beneath the Oakwood Road interstate
bridge.
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"Somehow, miraculously, they went between the lanes of
traffic," Williams said.
Both Combs and Harris were trapped inside the vehicle and
had to be extricated by emergency crews, a Metro 911
dispatcher said.
They were transported to Charleston Area Medical Center's
General Hospital and were in stable condition.
Williams said traffic was thick at the time of the
accident and it was raining. He said police do not believe
speed was a factor.
First responders said they thought Combs might have hit a
patch of wet pavement and hydroplaned, the dispatcher
said.
"It all boils down to the weather," Williams said. "We've
had wreck after wreck today. I think with this long
drought, people need to re-acclimate themselves to the wet
weather."
Emergency crews cleared the road by noon.
Charleston Fire Department Capt. Adrian Gillespie said in
17 years with the department, he's never before seen a
vehicle plunge off the interstate.
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