A 59-year-old Powhatan Point man died early Monday morning after his pickup truck left State Route 148, crossed into the opposite lane, struck an embankment and caught fire in Belmont County. The driver, identified as John Makris, was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, according to troopers.
The crash happened around 5:28 a.m. Monday near milepost 11 in Washington Township, according to WTRF. Makris was driving a 2006 GMC Sierra westbound on State Route 148 when the truck left the right side of the roadway and entered a ditch, the station reports.
From there, the pickup continued across the centerline and off the left side of the road before striking an embankment, per the same account. The vehicle then caught fire. Makris succumbed to his injuries at the scene, and troopers said he was not belted in at the time of the crash.
Cause of the Crash Still Unclear
The St. Clairsville post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the single-vehicle wreck, and as of Monday it remained unresolved. The patrol's initial information did not identify what caused the truck to leave the roadway in the first place, as reported by The Intelligencer, which noted the crash remained under investigation Monday.
A separate report from WTOV on the fatal wreck spells the driver's surname as Markis, while WTRF and The Intelligencer both spell it Makris. Hoodline has not been able to independently verify which spelling is correct.
No further details on the investigation's progress or any findings about the crash's cause have been released. The Ohio State Highway Patrol has not announced a timeline for concluding its review of the wreck on State Route 148.
