I-95 reopened in NC after fatal, fiery crash

DUNN, N.C. — Authorities say a driver likely fell asleep at the wheel, causing a fiery wreck that killed two people and closed part of Interstate 95 in North Carolina for five hours.

Highway Patrol Trooper Greg Steffens said a one-mile section of the highway was closed near Dunn for about five hours Tuesday after the wreck occurred about 3:30 a.m. One of the victims was 55-year-old Bert Baytops of Newark, N.J., and the other was a woman whose name hasn’t been released.

Steffens says the wreck likely occurred because the driver fell asleep at the wheel. The car ran off the road, hit a guardrail and stopped in the highway, where it was hit by a tractor-trailer.

The passenger was thrown from the vehicle, which caught fire with the driver inside.

The tractor-trailer driver was not hurt and will not be charged.

Information from: WRAL-TV

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