Troopers identify 2 killed in tractor-trailer crash on I-77 in SC

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A deadly accident in Interstate 77 in York County involving a tractor-trailer killed two.

Channel 9 reporter Greg Suskin saw orange paint marking where an 18-wheeler drifted off I-77 south of Rock Hill.

Officials said there are no signs the driver ever hit the brakes before the truck sailed down an embankment into the woods.

A man and woman inside the truck were killed. Troopers identified them at Kevin Smith, 48, of Salisbury, and Tracy Cates, 42, of Rockwell.

It took firefighters nearly an hour to cut down enough trees to get to them.

"It's just a big mess. The cab and everything was enclosed, people were enclosed. We couldn't even find the people, finally found them," said Wayne Reeves with the Lesslie Fire Department.

The cab was barely recognizable, and the trailer flipped, spilling a load of frozen crab legs back into the trees.

Traffic backed up for more than four miles heading south, and was slow all day long. 

Drivers didn't know what had happened until Channel 9 told them.

Highway patrol investigators worked all morning reconstructing the crash scene.

Troopers have not said what caused the trucker to lose control.

A towing company told Channel 9 it would take all day to pull the truck back up to the road.

Channel 9 learned the truck was coming from New Jersey.

WSOC