Update: 1 person airlifted after ejected from overturned vehicle on May River Road
Bluffton Police reported an overturned vehicle in a multiple car pileup on eastbound May River Road around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Drivers were asked to avoid the area near Old Palmetto Bluff Road, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.
Officials cleared the scene of the accident at 9:30, Capt. Joe Babkiewicz, spokesman for the Bluffton Police Department, said.
Capt. Lee Levesque, spokesman for Bluffton Township Fire District, said the accident involved a pickup truck, an SUV and a sedan.
A vehicle turning onto May River Road crashed into another vehicle already traveling eastbound, causing it to roll over several times before striking a tree, according to a Bluffton Police report. The report said the vehicle’s rear back passenger was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash and was ejected during the rollover.
A third vehicle had debris from the crash hit and break its windshield, the report said.
Levesque said one person with life-threatening injuries was airlifted by helicopter from the scene to the hospital. Three others, with injuries not considered life-threatening, were transported from the scene by ambulance.
The intersection where the crash happened was closed for at least an hour while an accident reconstruction team worked at the scene, Levesque said.
The reconstruction team and Bluffton Police Department were still investigating the cause of the accident as of 2 p.m., Wednesday.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published March 6, 2019 at 8:54 AM.
