A motorist who died in an automobile crash inside the Savannah River Site in South Carolina on Thursday was not an employee of the Department of Energy or its contractors.
“It wasn’t connected to our work,” a DOE spokesperson said by email. “It does appear that it was just a tragic accident — one of the cars crossed the center line” on Highway 125, a public road that passes through the facility near the city of Aiken.
The two-lane state highway is on the outer edge of the Energy Department site and motorists don’t need to go through checkpoints in order to access it, the spokesperson said Monday.
While the 17-mile stretch of highway is open to the public, vehicles are prohibited from stopping except for emergencies, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The victim, 53-year-old Gloria Williams of Augusta, Ga., was driving a Lexus that was hit by another automobile, a Honda, traveling in the opposite direction, the Highway Patrol said. Both Williams and a passenger in her car were not wearing seat belts. The passenger was ejected from the Lexus and hospitalized with serious injuries. Williams was not ejected. The driver of the Honda was also injured.
Williams was pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in nearby Augusta, according to Barnwell County, S.C. Coroner Lloyd Ward.
No charges had been filed as of Monday and the investigation remains open, police said. The crash was reported Friday by the Aiken. S.C., Standard.
