Incident Report

Subject:                   USA - Effingham, 2 Dead in Guyton Gasoline Tanker Explosion

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The Effingham County Sheriff's Office says the tanker was carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline. It took fire-fighters, who came from across the county, about three hours to extinguish the fire. The blaze caused severe structural damage to the highway. The Georgia Department of Transportation is detouring traffic to SR 119N, SR 30 and back to SR 17. ECSO expects the stretch of Highway 17 to be closed at least until Monday afternoon. The coroner's office is working with ECSO and Georgia State Patrol to identify the victims and notify next of kin. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Two victims, passengers of the pickup truck, died in an afternoon crash along Highway 17 in Effingham County. Officials with the Effingham County Sheriff's Office confirm an vehicle crash involving a tanker truck resulted in an explosion on Highway 17 and Marlow road around 3:00pm. Officials are asking all citizens and motorists to avoid GA 17 between Courthouse and Guyton.

That area is expected to be closed most of the night. All lanes on GA 17 between Blue Jay Road and Midland Road are closed. The tanker remains on fire, but has mostly been extinguished. Emergency crews from at least three nearby towns were dispatched to help control the flames. A spokesperson on the scene says the driver of the tanker truck was able to walk away from the scene before the explosion.  Police say about six homes were evacuated. Witnesses tell WSAV.com 'it appeared as though the road was on fire'.

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More information may be found here: http://www.wsav.com/story/24036067/crash-and-explosion-reported-near-guyton