A tragic accident early Saturday morning on N.C. Highway 87 in Harnett County claimed the lives of three individuals, including two soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg. According to CBS 17, the head-on collision involved a Toyota Camry and a Chevy Z71 truck near Broadway Road, with the crash occurring around 4:30 a.m.
The state troopers informed CBS 17 that the three occupants of the Camry were all serving at the military base. The driver, 22-year-old Romeo Mason Fleck from Harrisonburg, Pa., and passenger Charles Jackson, 21, from Efland, were pronounced dead at the scene. "Two paratroopers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division tragically lost their lives Saturday in a vehicle accident," a Fort Bragg spokesperson acknowledged in a statement obtained by CBS 17, identifying Spc. Fleck as an Infantryman and Spc. Jackson as a Combat Medic.
As mentioned by WRAL, the pickup's driver, 28-year-old William T. Underwood of Sanford, was also killed in the crash. The collision resulted in the closure of NC-87 for nearly four hours to facilitate an extensive crash investigation, the aftermath of which both vehicles needed towing from the scene, with debris from the impact scattered across the road.
The sole survivor of the Camry, identified as Aydrian Larusch, was initially taken to Womack Army Medical Center in critical condition but later had to be airlifted to another medical facility due to the extent of his injuries, as reported by CBS 17. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol noted that the southbound Camry had crossed the center line before the impact, as echoed in reports by ABC11. State Hwy Patrol says the investigation into the incident remains ongoing, and further details are pending as authorities piece together the events leading up to this fatal encounter.
