Several hurt in I-55 wrecks

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, July 6, 2005

A series of crashes involving eight vehicles was blamed for amajor slow-down for I-55 holiday traffic late last week.

Staff Sgt. Rod Crawford, spokesman for the Mississippi HighwayPatrol, said the vehicles were involved in three separate butrelated accidents Friday afternoon. Four vehicles were involved inan initial crash. Two subsequent minor accidents each involved twovehicles, Crawford said.

In the first wreck, Crawford said, Timothy Strawhun, of St.Louis, was traveling north in a 2005 Volvo when he was struck fromthe rear by Herbert McCampbell, of Madisonville, La., who wasdriving a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria.

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“When McCampbell struck Strawhun in the right rear, it causedStrawhun’s vehicle to spin out of control and strike two othernorthbound vehicles,” Crawford said.

The other motorists involved in the crash were Billy Graves, ofVicksburg, driving a 1997 Chevrolet pickup, and William Buckhalter,also of Vicksburg, driving a 2001 GMC pickup.

The incident occurred around 2:15 p.m. near mile marker 47 innorth Lincoln County.

Crawford said there were five injuries in the wreck. Strawhunand three passengers riding with him complained of pain but werenot taken for treatment. McCampbell sustained moderate injuries andwas taken to King’s Daughters Medical Center.

While traffic was being restricted to one lane on theinterstate, there were two separate minor accidents, Crawford said,adding that inclement weather as well as the restricted speedscontributed to the crashes.

Traffic was halted for a short time on the interstate until onelane was cleared to let vehicles continue. Crawford said althoughone lane was kept open most of the time, the traffic was backed upfor a considerable time because of holiday travel.