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7 people — all in the same vehicle — die in fiery car crash in North Carolina, troopers say
Seven people — all in one vehicle — were killed in a fiery crash in southeastern North Carolina when the car attempted to make a pass on a two-lane road and struck two other vehicles, the state Highway Patrol said Friday.
The accident happened around 6 p.m. Thursday on N.C. Highway 711 near Pembroke, which is about 90 miles northwest of Wilmington, according to troopers.
The patrol said its initial investigation found a vehicle containing the seven was traveling westbound when it crossed the center line and sideswiped another westbound vehicle.
The passing vehicle continued forward and struck an eastbound vehicle, then traveled off the road, stopped at the edge of a swamp, catching fire, a patrol crash summary said. Three of the passengers in the passing vehicle also were ejected.
The seven passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. The patrol said only one passenger had been identified but the name was withheld pending family notification. Speed appears to be a contributing factor in the wreck, but the weather has not been shown to be a contributing circumstance, the patrol said.
The driver of the eastbound vehicle, identified as 25-year-old John Hinston Dial of Pembroke, was taken to the hospital for serious but non-life threating injuries, troopers said. The westbound vehicle did not stay at the scene but it doesn’t appear the motorist contributed to the collision’s cause, according to the summary.
Troopers did not clarify what type of vehicle was carrying the seven passengers or if the car was overloaded. Last month, nine people were killed, and one seriously injured in Florida when an overloaded vehicle hit a guardrail and went upside down into a canal. They were driving in a 2023 Ford Explorer, which according to multiple websites, has a capacity of seven passengers. The NTSB said they were opening an investigation into the Florida crash.
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Mark Robinson, North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate, treated for burns, campaign says
Embattled Republican North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson — whose gubernatorial bid has been rattled by allegations that he previously posted racist and sexually explicit comments online — was hospitalized with burns Friday, his campaign said.
Mike Lonergan, a campaign spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement late Friday night that the 56-year-old Robinson was “currently being treated for burns following an incident at a campaign event in Mt. Airy.”
Lonergan added that Robinson was in “good spirits,” but did not provide any further details on his condition or the circumstances that prompted.
A source close to the campaign told CBS News that Robinson had been hospitalized.
This follows a bombshell CNN report last week which found that Robinson posted inappropriate comments to the message board of a pornographic website between 2008 and 2012, often under the name of “black NAZI.”
Since the report’s publication on Sept. 19, Robinson has seen several campaign staffers resign, including his campaign manager, general consultant and senior adviser, finance director, and deputy campaign manager. He has also appeared to lose support among the Republican leadership.
Robinson has not appeared in the two North Carolina rallies Trump has held since the CNN report. And when asked Thursday by reporters if he would pull his endorsement for Robinson, Trump responded, “I don’t know the situation.”
When asked Tuesday if Republicans should halt support for Robinson’s campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell responded, “It won’t surprise to you know I’m happy that there’s not a Senate race in North Carolina.”
Robinson, however, has so far vowed to stay in the race.
“This is an election about policies, not personalities,” he wrote on social media Wednesday. “Now is not the time for intra-party squabbling and nonsense.”
Kaia Hubbard and
contributed to this report.
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