While we now know the name of the man that was killed in a rollover accident on I-64 Saturday night, officials are investigating what went wrong and crediting a cable barrier with saving a dozen more lives,.
Jose Agustin died Saturday afternoon when a Ford F-150 extended cab truck carrying 14 immigrants from Mexico rolled 10-15 times while traveling eastbound near the Milton exit, according to West Virginia State Police Trooper G.H. Moore.
One person died in the accident, but it could have been worse if the truck had not been stopped by the barrier, and if it didn't have a shell.
According to Milton Police Sgt. G.F.Mullins, the truck was stuffed with six people in the cab, and eight in the bed of the truck which was covered by a shell.
"If it wasn't for the shell, more people would have been killed," Mullins said.
The injured victims were taken to St. Mary's Hospital and Cabell-Huntington Hospital. There names and conditions were not released.
While the accident is under investigation by the West Virginia State Police and the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Mullins indicated that the wreck was likely caused by a wheel falling off the truck.
The wreck happened in a 28-mile stretch of I-64 between Milton and the Kentucky border that has seen increased enforcement of speed limits in an attempt to decrease fatalities.
According to the West Virginia Department of Highways, eight people have lost their lives in the area since June 2001. Many of the deaths were caused by wrecks where cars crossed the median into oncoming traffic. The rate of deaths on the same stretch of I-64 increased from 10 during a three year period from June 1998 through June 2001.
As we reported here last week, the WVDOH opened bids to install cable barriers in the median between the 17th Street West and 29th street exits in Huntington.
According to Danny Alderson of the WVDOH, construction on those barriers should start early next month.