Lumberton, NC (AP) - Authorities say two girls and their parents died when they were hit by a tractor-trailer in a fiery crash that closed a major North Carolina interstate for hours. The tractor-trailer driver also died.
A North Carolina Highway Patrol news release says the wreck happened Tuesday when the tractor-trailer was approaching a work zone near the South Carolina state line but failed to reduce speed, colliding with a pickup truck. Several other vehicles were involved in the chain-reaction collision that caused a fire and other injuries.
The Highway Patrol identified the people killed in the pickup as a mother, father and two daughters from Goose Creek, South Carolina. Their names were: 32-year-old Elise Ann Spennati, 24-year-old Cole Allen Spennati, 1-year-old Sianna Spennati and 4-year-old Aila Spennati.
The tractor-trailer driver was identified as 68-year-old Michael Elliott Bricker of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
