Two Die In Browns Bridge Wreck

State patrol: Van veered into tractor-trailer

By: Matt Stewart

"The 2002 Ford van, driven by 19-year-old Nicholas Russell Graham of Gainesville, was traveling west on Browns Bridge Road about 10:20 a.m. when it crossed into the eastbound lane and hit a tractor-trailer, said state patrol Trooper Michael Taulton.

"There was nothing (the tractor-trailer driver) could do," Taulton said. "Once they impacted, the force of the tractor-trailer carried (the van) back down the road and off the shoulder."

He said the van hit an embankment and was "pinned between it and the tractor-trailer."

Graham, who was wearing a seat belt, was able to climb out of the wreckage while his two passengers remained trapped inside, Taulton said.

Graham was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center with minor injuries and was later released, he said.

Authorities don't think Reynolds and Lloyd were wearing seat belts, Taulton said.

The two men were in the van for several hours as wreckers attempted to separate it from the tractor-trailer, Hall County Fire Services Battalion Chief Chad Black said.

"One victim was still alive at the scene, but with the (tractor-trailer) on him we couldn't get him out and he (died)," Black said.

Two helicopters were called, but both men had died by the time they arrived. Forsyth County rescue units also responded to the wreck."