Local

3 killed in Bartow Co. tractor-trailer crash

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia State Patrol has released the names of three people killed in a Wednesday morning crash on Interstate 75 in Bartow County.

According to the Georgia State Patrol, a northbound tractor-trailer driven by George Benjamin White, 43, of Hiram, left the roadway on the left shoulder, struck a guard rail, then hit a concrete support pillar for an overhead sign on the southbound side of the interstate around 3 a.m. The truck then rolled on its side and caught fire. Jermaine Duriel Smith, 36, of Douglasville, was a passenger in White's truck.

As a result of the collision, the sign fell on the roadway and another tractor-trailer, driven by Hugh Bruce Duling III, 58, of Powder Springs, crashed into it and drove off the interstate, GSP said.

After hours of closure, all southbound lanes reopened around 10:30 a.m. A detour is in place from mile marker 306 to 293 for drivers to use Georgia Highway 140 and U.S. Highway 411.