Beaufort News

A government vehicle crashed into the marsh near Parris Island. Here’s what we know

Military police are investigating an accident after a government vehicle crashed into a marsh near the gates to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on Thursday afternoon.

The single-vehicle accident happened about 1:30 p.m. on Gen. E.A. Pollock Memorial Causeway leading to Parris Island’s main gate, a Depot spokesman said in an email. The vehicle was a 12-foot stakebed truck described as a “non-tactical government vehicle,” the public affairs office said.

There were two people inside; neither was hurt. The crash is under investigation.

The vehicle had been removed from the water as of about 3:30 p.m.

One of the palmetto trees growing along the causeway had been uprooted and appeared to have been cracked off with only a few feet of the trunk remaining. A sideview mirror and other vehicle debris was visible in the grass, and tracks led through the pluff mud into the water along the roadway.

No other information about the accident was immediately available from the Marine Corps on Thursday afternoon.

Port Royal Police Department received a call about a car in the marsh, and an officer responded to help direct traffic, a police spokesman said. He referred further questions to Parris Island.

Stephen Fastenau
The Island Packet
Stephen Fastenau covers Beaufort, Port Royal and the Sea Islands for The Beaufort Gazette and The Island Packet. He has worked for the newspapers since 2010 in various roles as a reporter and assistant editor. His work has been recognized with awards from the S.C. Press Association, including first place for public service as part of a large team reporting on environmental contamination in a Beaufort military community. Fastenau previously wrote for the Columbia County News-Times and Augusta Chronicle. He studied journalism and political science at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and lives in Beaufort. Support my work with a digital subscription
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