Update: Three killed in wreck

Posted

Three people died in a two-vehicle head-on collision on Hendersonville Highway (U.S. Highway 17-A) just south of Ritter Road on Thursday afternoon July 15 at 1:09 p.m.

A northbound Honda Odyssey mini-van traveling at a high rate of speed, ran off the road, over-corrected, then crossed into the southbound lane in a curve and struck a sorthbound Mercedes head-on. Both vehicles received heavy damage.

The Honda rolled over on its side and the Mercedes overturned. The 19-year-old male driver of the Honda was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the minivan, which caught fire following the collision.

A deputy, who was in the area, drove up on the accident shortly after it occurred and used a portable fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

Fire-Rescue units arrived minutes later and determined the three victims had no signs of life. The adult male and female in the Mercedes, who were wearing seatbelts, were trapped in the wreckage. Crews used rescue tools to free them.

Colleton County Deputy Coroner Richard Carter responded to the scene. The three victims were identified as Bluffton residents Ursula R. Ziebis, 79, and her husband Manford Ziebis, 89, and Au-Shaw Tykel Washington, 18, of Early Branch.

Hendersonville Highway in the area of the accident was closed for several hours while the S.C. Highway Patrol conducted its investigation.