BY ANDREW FAISON/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

andrew.faison@tidewaternews.com

 

FRANKLIN—A North Carolina trucker was killed after he drove his rig into the back of Virginia Department of Transportation maintenance truck at 10:48 a.m. Friday on Route 58 near the South Street exit, said Virginia State Trooper Greg Jackson.

Gregory Telford Ormond, 63, of Castalia west of Rocky Mount was pronounced dead at the scene by Franklin Fire and Rescue after his empty flatbed ran off the road and struck several trees.

“Rescue workers pulled the driver from the truck and administered CPR, but the driver was unresponsive,” Jackson said.

The driver of the VDOT truck, Seth Brown of Portsmouth, was treated and released from Southampton Memorial Hospital.

The VDOT truck was parked on Route 58 and had signs indicating there was road work ahead, police said.

“Witnesses noted the arrows on the back of the VDOT truck were working properly,” Jackson said. “The truck was the second in a staggered line of vehicles.”

VDOT closed the right lane of Route 58 for road repair before the crash.