Thursday, August 17, 2023–5:46 p.m.
-Georgia State Patrol-
Two people are dead following a three-vehicle crash Thursday morning near the Gordon-Bartow County line.
According to the Georgia State Patrol:
At approximately 7:30 a.m., Troopers from Post 3 Cartersville and Post 43 Calhoun were dispatched to I-75 Southbound near mile marker 308 to the wreck involving two commercial vehicles and a 2016 KIA Sorrento.
The preliminary investigation revealed that a tractor-trailer hauling a lift had pulled onto the shoulder of the road with a slight mechanical issue. The KIA, which was the pilot car for the tractor-trailer, also pulled over.
Once the mechanical issue was fixed, both vehicles re-entered the interstate and were still at low speed then the KIA was struck from behind by a second tractor-trailer.
The impact caused the KIA to strike the rear end of the first tractor-trailer.
The second tractor-trailer traveled down an embankment still in contact with the Sorrento and overturned.
A man in the KIA, identified as 21-year-old Brandon Johnson of Dallas, died at the scene while a woman in the KIA, 68-year-old Charlene Ann Kail, was critically injured and died shortly after being transported to Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center
The driver of the second tractor-trailer was transported to Gordon Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation is ongoing.