Woman killed in crash on Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

A woman was killed and a 4-year-old boy was flown to a Chapel Hill hospital Wednesday after a flatbed truck crashed into an SUV on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

The wreck shut down the bridge to Brunswick County-bound traffic for almost three hours. The bridge was closed in both directions for a short time.

The wreck occurred about 2:30 p.m. when a flatbed truck, headed toward Wilmington, changed lanes and collided with an 18-wheeler, according to Sgt. Carl Strawn of the Wilmington Police Department.

After the collision in the eastbound lanes, the flatbed truck lost control, went over the guard rail and crashed into an oncoming Chevy Tahoe, a sport utility vehicle, Strawn said.

A 29-year-old woman, a passenger in the Tahoe, died at the scene, Strawn said, and the injured child was also in that vehicle. The Tahoe’s driver was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center where he was treated and released. The driver of the flatbed truck was also taken to New Hanover with non-lifethreatening injuries, police said.

The driver of the 18-wheeler wasn’t injured.

At the scene

A slow stream of traffic began crossing the bridge toward Wilmington within an hour after the crash. But the westbound lanes, blocked by the flatbed truck, which was on its side, remained closed until after 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, emergency crews, police and transit officials worked at the scene. Some threw sand on spilled fluids while others used a welder to repair the guard rail.

A police officer was injured during the investigation when he fell from the cab of the flat-bed truck, according to a statement from WPD Spokeswoman Lucy Crockett. The officer was treated for a minor head injury, but should return to work Thursday.

Police blocked traffic at Third Street and diverted drivers to the Isabel Holmes Bridge.

Work on the bridge would continue into the evening, Strawn said, as investigators reconstructed the accident and transportation workers cleaned and made repairs to the guardrail.

Strawn, who heads up WPD’s traffic division, said when wrecks occur on the bridge, they’re often serious.

According to the N.C. Department of Transportation, 60,000 vehicles cross the Cape Fear bridge each day. From April 2002 through March 2007, there were 174 crashes, injuring 135 people.

The wrecks caused $904,310 in property damage, but none of those collisions was fatal, according to department statistics.

David Reynolds: 343-2075

dave.reynolds@starnewsonline.com