According to police, seven people – all in the same vehicle – died in a serious car accident in North Carolina

Seven people – all in one vehicle – were killed in a fiery crash in southeastern North Carolina when the car attempted to pass on a two-lane road and hit two other vehicles, the state Highway Patrol said Friday.

According to police, the accident occurred around 6 p.m. Thursday on NC Highway 711 near Pembroke, about 90 miles northwest of Wilmington.

The patrol said its initial investigation revealed a vehicle carrying the seven was traveling westbound when it crossed the center line and sideswiped another westbound vehicle.

The passing vehicle continued forward and struck an eastbound vehicle, then left the road, stopped on the edge of a swamp and caught fire, according to a summary of the patrol accident. Three of the passengers in the passing vehicle were also ejected.

The seven passengers were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The patrol said only one passenger had been identified, but the name was withheld pending notification of family. Speed ​​appeared to be a factor in the accident, but weather was not proven to be a factor, the patrol said.

The driver of the eastbound vehicle, 25-year-old John Hinston Dial of Pembroke, was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, troopers said. The westbound vehicle did not remain at the scene, but the summary states that the driver does not appear to have contributed to the cause of the collision.

The police did not provide any information about what type of vehicle the seven occupants were or whether the car was overloaded. Last month, Nine people were killed and one seriously injured in Florida when an overloaded vehicle crashed into a guardrail and plunged headfirst into a canal. They were traveling in a 2023 Ford Explorer, which several websites say has capacity for seven passengers. The NTSB said it was opening an investigation into the crash in Florida.