Two people were killed Wednesday morning after a tire blew out and caused their van to crash on I-75 North in Bartow County, the Emerson Police Department said in a statement.
About 6:20 a.m., police were called to the crash site just north of the Red Top Mountain Road exit, Emerson police Chief Kyle Teems said.
Authorities found a white Ford E-250 van on its roof in the right shoulder with three people inside.
Weems said the rear, driver-side tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control, spin and overturn. A Holland Trucking tractor-trailer then struck the van, police said.
Two passengers in the van, ages 33 and 47, died in the wreck. Their names are not being released pending next-of-kin notification, Weems said.
The driver of the van, Armondo Pompa-Nateras, 40, was taken to Cartersville Medical Center with “no obvious injuries,” Weems said.
The tractor-trailer driver, Rodney Damm of Troy, Ill., was not injured and deemed not at fault, Weems said. No charges are expected.
The wreck led to delays for nearly four hours.
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