A Guatemalan native living in Crystal Springs was killed and another man seriously injured in a one-car accident on New Year’s Day on Interstate 55 north, authorities said.

     Manuel de Jesus Barrios, 40, was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m. at the scene of the accident about three miles north of the north Brookhaven exit Tuesday, said Lincoln County Coroner Clay McMorris.

     A passenger, who has not been identified, is currently in critical condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

     Mississippi Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Sgt. Rusty Boyd said Barrios, of 201 Jackson Street, Crystal Springs, was driving a 1996 GM Prism that went into the median and hit a tree. Both Barrios and the passenger were wearing seatbelts.

     Boyd said the cause of the accident has not been determined. Barrios’ body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy, McMorris said.

     The accident followed a trend statewide of an increase in incidents over the New Year’s holiday weekend. Boyd said collisions statewide rose from 104 last year to 198 this year.