Authorities have released the identity of a Centreville man who died in a two-vehicle accident Monday morning on Highway 24 in Amite County.
Ben Griffin, 57, died after a collision with an 18-wheeler at 8:59 a.m. near Irene Road.
Griffin was the sole occupant of a westbound 2014 Ford four-door passenger car that apparently crossed the center line of the highway, striking an eastbound 18-wheeler head on, according to Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Brandon Fortenberry.
The driver of the 2007 18-wheeler, Andre Anderson, 38, of Foxworth, was taken to Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, Fortenberry said.
East and westbound traffic was shut down until early Monday afternoon while response crews cleared the highway of debris.
The accident marks the second traffic fatality in four days on Highway 24 in Amite County and at least the third major wreck in the vicinity in recent months.
On Thursday night, Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper Jason Powell, 39, of Brookhaven, died when his 2008 Dodge left the roadway and flipped over after a tire apprently blew out near the West Barron Road intersection, less than three miles away from Monday’s crash site.
And in late August, another head-on wreck occurred on Highway 24 at the intersection of Irene Road in Pike County, sending two people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Jones Family Funeral Services of McComb is handling Griffin’s funeral arrangements, which are incomplete at this time.
