ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC (WIS) – Alcohol is a suspected factor in an accident involving an ambulance and another car that killed one and sent six others to the hospital early Sunday morning.
The accident happened around 7:30am on Magnolia Street at Stilton Road, about one mile north of Orangeburg. Investigators said a Dodge four-door collided with a Bamberg County ambulance carrying a mother and her newborn child.
A passenger in the Dodge, 23-year-old Christopher Harrison, died in the wreck. The driver, 22-year-old Zachary Thomas, was taken to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital for treatment. All five occupants of the ambulance were also taken to a local hospital.
Troopers said the ambulance was on its way to the Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties. Thetandd.com is reporting that the injured mother had just given birth at Bamberg Hospital, and was being transported with her newborn to RMC for admittance.
Martha Hammett, operations manager for Bamberg Rescue Squad Inc., the agency contracted for EMS services in Bamberg County, told thetandd.com everyone who was in the ambulance is okay.
Troopers said Monday they expect to charge Thomas with felony DUI. The highway patrol’s MAIT team is investigating the crash.
