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Car flattened in motor vehicle accident

POLK COUNTY––On Thursday evening at 6:53 p.m, Columbus Fire Department was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident on I-26 westbound on the Saluda Grade, at mile marker 63. Saluda Fire Department assisted.

Nick Edwards from Saluda Fire Department said when they arrived, they fully anticipated a fatality.

“We don’t get many flat [cars] like that,” Edwards said.

According to officials, the vehicle was traveling westbound on I-26 when the driver went underneath the trailer of an 18-wheeler.

“He was stuck in the middle lane, and the 18-wheeler he went underneath was above him,” according to Edwards.

Officials shut down both the left and middle lanes while they worked on the scene and diverted all traffic into the slow lane.

The driver self-extracted himself from the vehicle, according to officials, and refused medical advice to go to the hospital for a check-up. Emergency medical responders cleared the driver to go home.

Two lanes remained shut down for about an hour and a half while officials worked to clear the scene.

The driver of the 18-wheeler reported no injuries, and the truck sustained minimal damage.