Published: November 16, 2009 08:06 pm      

Head-on collision claims 1

MAYBEURY — A man died, and a woman was airlifted with serious injuries, following a two-vehicle head-on collision Monday in McDowell County.

The crash was reported at 9 a.m. on U.S. Route 52 in Maybeury, according to Sgt. W.C. Tupper, of the West Virginia State Police Welch Detachment.

Tupper said Joseph Pack Jr. 19, of Davy died at the scene of the accident. Tupper said Pack was a student at Bluefield State College.

Tupper said Pack was operating a pick-up truck that was traveling south on U.S. Route 52 when the vehicle crossed the center line and struck an SUV that was traveling northbound.

The operator of the SUV, an unidentified female from Welch, was airlifted from the scene of the accident with serious injuries to Charleston Area Medical Center. Her condition wasn’t immediately known late Monday.

Emergency officials were forced to shut down Route 52 near Maybeury following the crash.

“(Route) 52 was shut down for a while,” Tupper said. “There was no way to divert traffic. The helicopter landed on 52 in Maybeury.”

No other injuries were reported in the crash. There were no passengers in either vehicle.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation. Tupper is being assisted in the investigation by Trooper B.A. Wood, also of the Welch Detachment.

The McDowell County Ambulance Authority and the Northfork Fire Department also responded to the crash.

— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com