An employee of the Cherokee Department of Transportation (CDOT) was killed in a head-on collision on the morning of Tuesday, April 14. The EBCI Public Safety Communication Center received a report of a motor vehicle collision in the Birdtown Community, on Birdtown Road (US-19), which is in the direction of Bryson City, at 7:52am. The original caller reported a major, two-vehicle wreck near Jenkins Grocery.
The CDOT truck was traveling in the northbound lane when it collided head-on with a Dodge SUV in the southbound lane. There were two persons in the Tribal vehicle and a single person in the Dodge SUV.
The driver of the CDOT truck died from injuries sustained from the accident. The passenger of the CDOT truck was treated for minor injuries and released from the Cherokee Hospital. The operator of the Dodge SUV was transported to Memorial Mission Hospital. That person’s injuries are not known at this time.
The Cherokee Indian Police Department Traffic Division is investigating the accident. It is still under investigation and no names of persons involved have been released at this time.
– EBCI Public Safety
