One Dead, Several Injured After Multi-Vehicle Crash Involving Semi on I-85 Near SC–GA Border

A 34-year-old man was killed and multiple others injured in a violent chain-reaction crash on I-85 near the South Carolina–Georgia border early Tuesday morning, as confirmed by the Oconee County Coroner’s Office.
The crash occurred at 6:05 a.m. near mile marker 2 in Oconee County when a 2016 Freightliner tractor-trailer rear-ended a 2013 Honda sedan that had slowed for construction traffic. The impact pushed the Honda into a 2019 Chevy pickup, which then collided with a 1998 Chevy pickup.
According to FOX Carolina, the tractor-trailer and the Honda crossed the cable median barrier and struck a 2015 Chevy pickup in the southbound lanes of I-85.
Emergency responders found Rafael B. Veloz, 34, entrapped inside the Honda. Life-saving efforts were performed after extrication, but he was pronounced dead at 7:10 a.m. from blunt force chest trauma.
Three other drivers were injured and transported to separate hospitals:
-
The 2019 Chevy pickup driver to Greenville Memorial Hospital
-
The 1998 Chevy pickup driver to AnMed Hospital
-
The 2015 Chevy pickup driver to Oconee Memorial Hospital
The tractor-trailer driver was uninjured. All lanes of I-85 were blocked for several hours during the investigation and cleanup.