A truck driver killed in a dump truck accident worked in Lithonia to provide for his three children in Jamaica.
Neil Gayle drove dump trucks for G &J Trucking, where his boss and friend, Gilbert Atkinson, described him as “a very good human being,” Channel 2 Action News reported. Gayle had more than 20 years trucking driving experience.
Gayle was headed to pick up a load of asphalt in Covington along Harold Dobbs Road on Sunday when the dump truck behind him – driven by his friend – crashed into his truck, Channel 2 reported. The two trucks went off a bridge and into a river. Gayle was thrown from his truck.
“They started lifting up the trucks they found his body under the bottom of the truck,” Atkinson told Channel 2, “he fell in the river and the truck fell on him.”
Gayle’s friend, who’s from New Jersey, was unfamiliar with the area they were in and followed him around. The friend, whose name has not been released, suffered minor injuries.
The accident hurt those in the trucking community, Atkinson said.
“We have had a lot of stuff but never lost a driver,” he said, “and this one is beyond comprehension it’s just very painful.”
No charges have been filed in the crash, but the investigation continues.
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