WINFIELD, W.Va. — Black ice is blamed for a number of accidents Tuesday morning in Putnam County, the worst a double-fatality on U.S. Route 35 near the Putnam/Mason County line.
“It appears they hit black ice, spun sideways, and hit a car that was in the ditch,” said Putnam County Sheriff Bobby Eggleton.
The crash happened in the 8:00 hour and was one of many wrecks across the county as black ice caught many motorists off guard on the morning commute.
“I came out at 6:30 and all of the deputies were tied up immediately with black ice accidents. Route 62 had a wreck in the Poca area, I-64 at the St. Albans exit had a black ice pile up. It was really just havoc for about the first three hours of the morning,” he said.
The worst however was the crash on Route 35 which left the highway closed for an extended period of time as State Police worked on accident reconstruction. The identifies of the victims have not been released pending notification of relatives. Sheriff Eggleton confirmed they two victims were Putnam County residents.