A fatal traffic accident in Walthall County on Thursday marked the first death in southwest Mississippi related to winter storm Leon and at least the sixth statewide.
James B. Simonton, 62, of Florence, died in a single-vehicle accident just outside of Tylertown on Highway 48 about a half mile east of Kirklin Road.
State troopers responded to the accident at 3:51 p.m., Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. 1st Class Rusty Boyd said.
Simonton was reportedly traveling west on Highway 48 when his 2004 Pontiac Aztek hit a patch of ice and ran off the left side of the roadway.
Boyd said Simonton was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled over. He was not wearing a seat belt.
Walthall County Coroner Shannon Hartzog pronounced Simonton dead on the scene.
The accident is still under investigation.
Boyd said it was the first storm-related death he knew of in southwest Mississippi.
Other serious accidents, including one in McComb that injured two people, may also be weather-related, authorities said.
Police and firefighters responded to the intersection of Pine and Warren streets around 10:15 a.m. Thursday.
Officer Whitney Webb said a Buick Century driven by Kyle Smith of McComb was northbound on Warren Street when it collided with a Chevy Suburban driven by Tineka Smith of McComb that was westbound on Pine Street.
Firefighters had to extract the Buick’s passenger, Dean Pope, also of McComb.
Both he and Kyle Smith were taken by ambulance to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center with unknown injuries.
Firefighters on the scene said it appeared the Buick failed to stop at a stop sign, possibly due to slick spots in the roadway.
The driver of the Suburban was not injured in the collision.
Also on Thursday, a separate accident in Pike County caused a propane truck to roll onto its side.
A Blossman Gas propane truck driven by Dixon Sinclair of Summit rolled over after it hit a patch of ice in front of a plastics plant in the 1100 block of Dixie Springs Road.
“There was a lot of ice on that road, probably about 150 yards of ice in front of that plant,” Summit Fire Chief Stan McMorris said.
The driver was not injured, and the contents of the truck were not compromised, McMorris said.
