Truck Accidents 360 Newswire

SEMINARY, MS – A truck driver for Sanderson Farms was seriously injured in a rollover truck accident on Monday March 22nd in Covington County, Mississippi. The truck collision happened near the town of Seminary close to the intersection of Mississippi 590 and US 49. The accident area is north of Hattiesburg in the southeast section of the state, 123 miles northeast of Mobile, Alabama and 130 miles north of New Orleans, Louisiana.

At approximately 7:30 a.m. on March 22nd, 38 year old Johnny Felts of Hattiesburg, MS, a truck driver for Sanderson Farms, was driving a company semi tractor trailer truck filled with grain south on US 49 in Covington County. Sanderson Farms is based in Laurel, Mississippi.

As the 18 wheeler moved through Seminary close to the intersection of Mississippi 590, a Pontiac Grand Am driven by an unidentified 17 year old female driver merged off of highway 590 onto US 49, directly into the 18 wheeler’s lane of traffic.

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The driver of the Sanderson trailer truck was unable to maneuver to avoid an accident and slammed into the car. The semi truck then rolled over on its side and crashed into a bridge support abutment. The bridge is over a small creek that is near the US 49 and Mississippi 590 intersection.

Local firefighters, Baptist Life Flight EMTs, and Coventry County Emergency personnel responded to the scene of the truck accident. The Sanderson Farms truck driver was trapped in the cab of his 18 wheeler and had to be extricated. It took emergency workers a variety of tools and about five hours to finally free the truck driver from his overturned trailer truck. The rescue reportedly took so long because Mr. Felts’ leg was caught and the EMTs worked slowly to avoid inflicting more injury on the trapped truck driver.

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Because of the way the truck driver was pinned by the truck accident, “We literally cut the truck to pieces”, according to Rick Wilkins, the Covington County Fire Coordinator. Mr. Wilkins also said that the truck driver was awake and alert during the rescue, and even talked to his wife on a cell phone at one point.

Once free from the truck wreckage, the driver was stabilized and then airlifted by Baptist Life Flight to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, MS.

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The driver of the car which caused the truck accident sustained minor injuries in the collision. She was treated at the scene and then transported to Covington County Hospital.

Local officers shut down the section of US 49 in the vicinity surrounding the truck accident site. Traffic was backed up for several hours as first emergency personnel worked to free the truck driver, and later as crews cleared debris from the accident site.

During the traffic accident cleanup, southbound traffic was diverted to part of the US 49 northbound lanes. The southbound lanes finally reopened at about 3:45 p.m. Monday afternoon.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation also sent crews to repair the damaged bridge, including the concrete barriers and metal guardrail.

The truck accident remains under investigation. No charges have been filed at this time.

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