Inmate on work detail killed on I-40

RALEIGH (AP) — One of three inmates struck by a sport utility vehicle while picking up trash in the median of Interstate 40 today has died.

Inmate Charles G. Wilson died at WakeMed, about six hours after the wreck.

Authorities say the driver of a westbound sport utility vehicle lost control near the Lake Wheeler Road interchange around 8:15 a.m. The vehicle skidded into the median and hit three inmates and an empty prison van.

Department of Correction spokesman Keith Acree says the SUV rolled on top of one inmate, prompting the other two to come to his aid. Acree says the two inmates actually pulled the third from underneath the vehicle before paramedics arrived.

Police say the driver of the SUV and his three-year-old son weren't seriously injured, but it's not known why the driver lost control of the vehicle.

A work crew inmate was struck by a pickup truck on June 13 while working on Interstate 26 in Henderson County.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)