WYTHE COUNTY, Va. – UPDATE (2/14/2022 at 4:02 p.m.)
Virginia State Police released more information about the crash on Interstate 81 that killed three people and sent four others to the hospital on Friday afternoon in Wythe County.
Recommended Videos
Inside the passenger van at the time of the crash were four adults and three children.
Police said that everyone inside the van was related to one another.
Police did not provide the names of any of the minors involved in the crash, but did say that each one was properly secured in an age-appropriate safety restraint.
Authorities identified the three people who died as:
- Mark Williams, 52, of Tunnel Hill, Georgia
- Brittany Puckett, 25, of Tunnel Hill, Georgia
- A 2-year-old boy
Neither Williams nor Puckett was wearing a seat belt, according to police.
Police also released the identities of those hurt in the crash, each taken to the hospital for treatment:
- Christina Williams, 31, of Tunnel Hill, Georgia.
- Police listed her injuries as serious
- Maryann Bracci, 18
- Police listed her injuries as serious
- 7-year-old girl
- Police listed her injuries as minor
- 5-year-old girl
- Police listed her injuries as life-threatening injuries.
Williams was the one driving the van at the time of the crash.
Police said that the crash remains under investigation at this time.
UPDATE (2/11/2022 at 6:29 p.m.)
Three people died and four others are in the hospital after a crash on I-81 in Wythe County on Friday, according to Virginia State Police.
Authorities say at about 2:45 p.m., a van was going southbound at mile marker 64 when it hit a tractor-trailer, overturned and then came to rest on the median.
We’re told that there were seven individuals in the van and of those seven, three people lost their lives and four others were sent to a nearby hospital.
According to state police, the driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.
VSP says the crash remains under investigation.
ORGINAL STORY (2/11/2022 at 5:42 p.m.)
If you’re driving on I-81 southbound in Wythe County, expect delays due to a tractor-trailer crash.
VDOT says traffic is currently backed up for about six miles after a crash at the 64.8 mile marker.
At this time, the south left shoulder, left lane and right lane are closed.
We will update this article once the crash is cleared.