
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 23, 1994                   TAG: 9408230106
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

EXACT CAUSE OF 3 DEATHS NOT KNOWN

State police still were not sure Monday night if three men who collided head-on with a trash truck in Henry County died of the impact or the fire that followed.

State Trooper Dennis Ferguson said the men, whose names were not released at their families' requests, were traveling south on Virginia 610 in the Sandy Level area at 2:20 p.m. when they crossed into the left lane and crashed into a northbound trash truck.

The truck, owned by First Piedmont Inc., a private refuse removal company, hit the car and drove it backwards 41 feet before the car burst into flames, Ferguson said.

All three men in the car were dead at the scene, according to Ferguson. He said the driver of the truck, Larry Adkins, 34, of Spencer, and a passenger, Jimmy Parks of Axton, were not injured.

The highway was blocked in both directions for nearly six hours while rescue workers removed the bodies from the car, Ferguson said.

The accident occurred in a sharp turn in an area with a 55 mph speed limit, according to Ferguson. He said early indications are that the car was speeding.

- Staff report

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB