TROUTMAN, NC – A deadly wrong-way crash shutdown part of I-77 North in Iredell County for nearly 12 hours on Friday.
The wreck happened around 2 a.m. near US 21. The roadway reopened around 1 p.m, though backups still lingered for about six miles.
Troopers say a truck driven by 31-year-old Eric Pompa of Utah, crashed head-on into a tractor trailer driven by 52-year-old Cecil Ward of Florida.
The tractor-trailer caught fire.Β Pompa was thrown from the truck and died at the scene. Paramedics took Ward to Atrium Wake-Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem with non-life-threatening injuries.
Troopers say it appears Pompa may have been impaired, but did not give any details.
