A Gloster man died Friday afternoon in a three-vehicle traffic accident on Highway 24 near Irene Road, just west of McComb.
Lynell James Harris, 52, of 3715 Pepperhouse Road, was pronounced dead at the scene after his vehicle collided head-on with an 18-wheeler.
McComb firefighters and state troopers were dispatched to the scene of the wreck around 4:18 p.m. and found three mangled vehicles, one of which was an 18-wheeler located in a field nearly 50 yards from the highway.
McComb Fire Chief B.J. Nettles said the impact apparently dislodged the truck’s entire front axle.
Harris was west on Highway 24, in his 2000 Dodge Caravan when his vehicle veered into the oncoming lane and collided with the truck driven by Michael Monroe, 44, of Europa, Highway Patrol Sgt. Rusty Boyd said.
Troopers on the scene said Harris may have been trying to pass the vehicle in front of him.
“All we know is he got in the wrong lane,” Boyd said. “Whether he was trying to pass or just veered over, we don’t know at this time.”
The impact knocked Harris’ vehicle back into the westbound lane where it then collided with a 2005 Saturn VUE driven by 63-year-old Sally Parnell of 3687 Corman O’neil Road, Gloster, according to state troopers.
Also in the Saturn were passengers Phillip Parnell, 65, of Gloster, and Dakota Parnell, 11, of Watson, La.
Neither the driver nor the passengers of the Saturn was injured.
Monroe, the driver of the 18-wheeler, received moderate injuries and was transported to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center for treatment.
Mississippi troopers said each of the drivers and occupants of the vehicles involved was wearing a seat belt.
