3 dead after car catches fire during wrong-way crash on Georgia highway

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Officials are investigating after three people died in a multi-vehicle car wreck Friday night.

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Just before 8 p.m., Augusta firefighters were called to a vehicle fire at the intersection of Deans Bridge Road and Etterlee Road.

When fire crews arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. Dispatch confirmed to firefighters there were individuals entrapped inside the vehicle.

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After putting out the blaze, firefighters did find three people inside the vehicle.

Augusta officials said firefighters spent several hours extricating the victims from the severely damaged car.

The victims’ identities were not released.

The passengers in the other vehicle involved in the crash were treated at the scene but declined to be taken to the hospital.

According to Georgia State Patrol, an officer with the Blythe Police Department tried to stop a Mercury Sable for speeding on Georgia Highway 4.

The driver didn’t stop and the officer chased the car.

As they approached the Bath Edie Road intersection, the Mercury entered the southbound lanes still traveling north.

The police officer did not follow the Mercury on the wrong side of the road.

After driving for about a mile, the driver of the Mercury hit a southbound truck head-on just north of the Etterle Road intersection.

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