MIDLAND, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Two adults and a child are dead while four others are in the hospital following a major, three-vehicle wreck Wednesday morning in Cabarrus County.
Six patients were treated following the multi-vehicle wreck on N.C. 27 near Bethel School Road around 8 a.m., Midland Fire and Rescue said. Midland Fire said all six occupants had been removed from the vehicles.
The Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office confirmed three fatalities and four more patients were transported to various area medical centers. The youngest victim is 12 years old.
Residents like Kenny Gillenwater say crashes are common on N.C. 24-27 and Bethel School Road.
“It’s the worst one I’ve seen out here with that many fatalities,” Gillenwater said. “There’s so many wrecks up here something has got to happen.”
Queen City News was on scene and observed three somewhat unrecognizable vehicles involved in the collision that included a minivan, a sedan and a pickup truck. Cabarrus County Capt. Kevin Klinglesmith said a family of five in a Toyota Sienna was heading home to Norwood when the driver swerved into oncoming traffic striking the pickup and a sedan.
“Initial interviews of the surviving parties indicated that the van traveling eastbound made an abrupt swerve into oncoming traffic,” Klinglesmith said. “It’s horrendous. We have three of the same family pass away.”
A man, a woman, and a 12-year-old boy were pronounced dead on the scene, officials on scene told Queen City News.
The driver and another passenger were airlifted to an area medical center to be treated. The pickup and sedan had single occupants who were also transported to be treated, officials said. Deputies were confirmed to be at the hospitals monitoring the conditions of the others injured in the crash.
Residents say speeding is a problem along the stretch of highway.
“We can ask for Cabarrus County Sheriff’s office to enforce the speed limits, which they are doing their best to do, but as far as traffic lights, traffic circles that’s NCDOT and any requests from our citizens town or leadership have stalled or gone unnoticed,” Elizabeth Nervegna said.
A spokeswoman from NCDOT said she could not comment on the crash Wednesday because it’s still under investigation. There is a new project in the works, however.
“We do have a project in development to build a reduced conflict intersection at N.C. 24/27 and Bethel Church Road. This design would remove left-hand turns, instead redirecting drivers from Bethel Church Road to turn right and travel a short distance to make a U-turn to proceed in the opposite direction. The project is currently scheduled to advertise for bids in Summer 2024.”
There’s no timeline on when the work will be completed.
There were heavy traffic delays until around 3 p.m. when 24-27 reopened.
Allen Volunteer Fire, West Stanly Fire and medical helicopters were among the departments responding to the scene.
