CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Labor Day holiday weekend was a deadly one on West Virginia highways. Police say nine people died in various accidents, six of those deaths were in Fayette County.
A crash Monday afternoon on U.S. Route 60 near Hico killed two people and seriously injured a third. Deputies say Daniel Smith, 32, of Fayetteville survived the wreck and was rushed to a Charleston hospital where he was in stable condition. Eyewitnesses say the driver of the car had passed several other vehicles before losing control. The names of the victims haven’t been released.
That accident took place just a few hours after police in Oak Hill say a Marion County woman slammed her car into the Main Street overpass bridge on Route 19. That rollover claimed the life of Mary Jo Danham of Fairmont. Police say speed and alcohol were factors.
The other three deaths in Fayette County happened Saturday night when three Scarbro residents were killed in a rollover crash on Route 612 near Mossy. The victims are identified as 54-year-old Robert Manning, Eddy Miller and Donna Moran, 52.
A Sunday morning accident in Cabell County killed a man. Police said Jason Steger, 36, of Greenup, Ky. lost control of his vehicle on Waverly Road and hit a concrete light support pole in the median. He died at a Huntington hospital.
The chief at the Eleanor Volunteer Fire Dept. in Putnam County died Sunday from injuries suffered in an ATV accident Saturday in Webster County. Shane Jividen, 36, was at a fundraiser for the Webster Springs VFD.
The first death of the holiday weekend was recorded Friday evening on Interstate 79 in Monongalia County. Deputies said William Williams, 50, of Clarksville, Tenn., lost control of his motorcycle just south of the Goshen Road exit at around 6 p.m.