FORREST COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) -- A one-vehicle accident on Interstate 59 in Forrest County, Mississippi left two dead and 12 injured Saturday afternoon.
Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Todd Miller said the accident was caused after the left front wheel of the Freightliner RV blew out, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and into a tree just north of the Evelyn Gandy Parkway exit.
Officials said the vehicle was taking 14 people to the Bowl Championship Series football game in New Orleans when the wreck happened at about 4:30 p.m.
Two passengers were ejected from the vehicle and one was trapped inside when officers arrived.
Darryl Bernard Parker of Riverdale was killed in the accident. Parker had been sitting on the right side of the RV when the accident occurred. He had just celebrated his 50th birthday last week.
A second passenger, Alfred Holt Jr. of Lithonia, died Sunday from injuries sustained in the crash.
It took officers six hours to clear the wreck. Some lanes of the interstate were blocked as all the injured were transported to local hospitals.
Miller said the accident most likely occurred because the RV's tires were worn out.
"A vehicle like that, an RV, they're a good-sized vehicle and so it's possible people didn't check their equipment out. It's just something that's probably not used very much," he said. "And if you don't use it, equipment will eventually start to wear away and ruin."
(Copyright 2012 WDAM. All rights reserved.)