Crash Kills 2 At Roadside Sale
Two people are dead and 20 were injured in a horrible accident on the first day of a roadside sale that stretches through four states.
A runaway tractor-trailer rear-ended a car, set it afire, and then plowed through a line of shoppers and vendors at the "World's Longest Yard Sale."
Jim Allison of Pikeville, Tenn., was browsing at a table full of books around 8:45 p.m. Thursday when he heard a crash, looked up, and saw the huge truck heading straight for him.
"It was coming so fast, I thought, 'What? What?' Before I knew it, it was there. It just kept on going," he said.
The rig also hit a vendor who was sitting in a chair by his table.
"It hit him in the back and broke his collarbone," Tennessee Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Walker said. "They say you could see the print of the tire on the back of his shirt."
The accident occurred in Dunlap, Tenn., a small town about 40 miles north of Chattanooga, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 127 and state Route 111.
Witnesses to the crash described a ball of fire, reports Correspondent Ron West of CBS affiliate WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The sale, in its 12th year, began Thursday, and thousands of people were expected to brave traffic jams and warm temperatures in search of bargains before the sale ends Sunday.
Many vendors camp out along the 450-mile route from Alabama to Kentucky.
The tractor-trailer hit a Ford sedan that caught on fire. The truck continued on for 550 feet, knocking other cars and trucks, and crashing into exhibitors before coming to a rest on its side along the road, highway patrol Capt. John Savage said.
The truck driver, whose name was not immediately available, told Allison her rig lost its brakes. Police said the brakes would be tested.
The two people who died were in the burning car. A bystander tried in vain to help them, said Mack Harris of Dunlap, who had set up a stand to sell antiques.
Three women and one man ranging in age from 35 to 57 were in critical condition and a 49-year-old woman was in fair condition at Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, hospital spokesman Todd Womack said. Five others were treated and expected to be released Friday, Womack said.
Ten others were treated at three different hospitals. All but one were released by Friday morning.
The annual event draws about 3,000 vendors selling everything from hubcaps to china. It stretches from Gadsden, Ala., through Georgia and Tennessee to Covington, Ky.