Coroner names driver killed in collision with dump truck near Hardeeville
A driver killed in a Friday collision with a dump truck on a prominent Hardeeville highway was identified as a 22-year-old local, according to the Jasper County Coroner’s Office.
Ridgeland resident Francisco Garcia Bonilla was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash Friday morning near the intersection of U.S. Highway 321 (Deerfield Road) and Old Charleston Highway, the coroner’s release said.
Bonilla was driving a 2016 Chevrolet pickup truck south on U.S. 321 and “was attempting to pass other vehicles” on the one-lane highway when he collided with a 1998 dump truck traveling in the opposite direction around 6:55 a.m. Friday, according to Cpl. Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The Chevrolet then ran off the right side of the road and overturned, according to the SCHP release.
U.S. 321 was closed for several hours Friday morning as crews responded to the crash site, leading to significant traffic backups north of Hardeeville.
A GoFundMe that says it is raising funds for Bonilla’s funeral and memorial expenses had garnered $6,430 in donations in one day, representing about half of its $13,000 goal.
SCHP was continuing to investigate the deadly crash, Pye said in his Saturday morning press release.
Bonilla’s obituary or funeral arrangements had not been published online as of Wednesday.
