A tragic incident occurred on a Midlands road in South Carolina, resulting in the untimely death of Marcelino Rojas, a 57-year-old Newberry resident, on November 29th. Newberry County Coroner Laura Kneece confirmed the devastating news.
The fatal collision, which involved a single-vehicle, took place in Newberry County on November 27th, as reported by Master Trooper Brandon Bolt of the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
Rojas was behind the wheel of a 1997 Ford pickup truck traveling east on S.C. 34 when the vehicle veered off the right side of the road, collided with a ditch, and overturned, according to Bolt.
Following the collision, Rojas was air-lifted by helicopter to Prisma Health Richland hospital, where he ultimately passed away. Bolt noted that Rojas was the sole occupant of the pickup, and no other injuries were reported. It remains unclear whether Rojas was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
The circumstances leading to the pickup’s departure from the road remain under investigation by the Highway Patrol and the coroner’s office.
As of the latest update, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety has recorded 881 fatalities on South Carolina roads in 2023. In comparison, there were 1,091 deaths in crashes in the state in the previous year. In Newberry County alone, at least eight individuals have lost their lives in crashes this year, with a reported 10 deaths in the county in 2022.
