Durham Man Killed, Others Injured in Wreck Outside Charlotte, North Carolina

As reported by the Charlotte Observer:

26-year-old Durham man died and six of his family members were hospitalized after their Chevy Tahoe wrecked on Interstate 85 Thursday on their way to a concert in Charlotte, the State Highway Patrol said.

Guillermo Romero died in the single-vehicle wreck while two of his family members suffered life-threatening injuries, the Highway Patrol said.

The youngest passengers in the car were two 16-year-olds and two 15-year-olds.

The driver of the Chevy Tahoe, Natalia Varela, 36, lost control of the vehicle after she slammed on her brakes, thinking a tractor-trailer was about to pull into her lane, Highway Patrol Sgt. G.A. Barger said. The Tahoe veered into the median and flipped several times, he said.

Several passengers were wearing seatbelts while others weren’t and were thrown from the vehicle, he said.

The Tahoe was in the left lane when the truck was pulling back into the right-hand lane from the right-hand shoulder emergency strip, where it had stopped with another truck, Barger said. The tractor-trailer remained in the right lane after pulling back onto the highway, Barger said.

By the time emergency crews arrived, motorists from other vehicles who saw the wreck were administering CPR to the victims, Barger said.