Tractor-trailer rear-ends car on I-20, kills driver and passengers, SC Highway Patrol says

Three people died after a tractor-trailer hit a car on a highway in Richland County, the South Carolina Highway Patrol announced.

Just after 2 a.m. on Saturday, a 2016 Kia Forte and a 2011 Freightliner tractor-trailer were driving westbound on Interstate 20 near Arcadia Lakes at mile marker 76, Master Trooper Michael Ridgeway said. The Kia stopped on the roadway, and the tractor-trailer struck it in the rear.

No other details were available.

The driver and the two passengers inthe Kia Forte died from their injuries on the scene. They have not been publicly identified by the Richland County Coroner’s Office.

The driver of the tractor-trailer wasn’t injured.

All lanes of I-20 were blocked directly following the crash, according to the South Carolina Department of Transportation. It was cleared later Saturday morning.

The SC Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate the incident.

Through Saturday, there have been 229 traffic fatalities in the Palmetto State, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.