As many as seven people died in a fiery crash early this morning that involved an Alabama prison van and a tractor-trailer on an isolated stretch of U.S. 82 in Montgomery County, prison officials said.

The victims were all employees or job applicants for the Alabama Department of Corrections, Trooper John A. Reese said at the scene.

There were no prisoners involved in the accident, Reese said.

Brian Corbett, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said it was still unclear how many people were traveling in the van. A corrections employee was scheduled to drive six job applicants from the Bullock County Correctional Institute to the Draper Correctional Institute, where the applicants were to undergo physical and written tests for possible future employment as corrections officers. It was unclear if all six applicants showed up this morning.

The driver of the truck was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Reese identified the driver as Andrew David Carter Jr., 31, of Tifton, Ga. He said Carter was employed by and the truck was owned by Lewis Trucking Co. of Cordele, Ga.

Carter issued the following statement from Baptist Medical Center South: "My family and I are deeply disturbed by the events that took place this morning. To the families of (those) who lost their lives in the accident, our thoughts and prayers are with you. We are very sorry for you loss."

The van and the cab of the truck, which appeared to be hauling landscape timbers, were burned beyond recognition.

“It is unspeakable,” Corbett said. “You don’t ever expect anything like this to happen.”

Grady Springer with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management was at the scene checking for chemical spills.

“I don’t think there is anything here. The fire took care of it,” he said.

Due to the accident, a portion of U.S. 82 will be closed until about 2 p.m., Reese said.

Troopers are rerouting traffic starting about two miles east of where U.S. 82 intersects Troy Highway.

Details on the victims were not immediately available. The van was about 20 miles from the state prison in Bullock County.

The Montgomery County coroner’s office said forensics workers were on the scene.

The crash occurred about 20 miles southeast of Montgomery.


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