By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Three area men — two pickup drivers and a passenger in one of the trucks — escaped with only minor injuries February 16 after the vehicles collided head-on on U.S. 31, near Wawbeek.
According to Alabama State Trooper reports, the violent collision occurred around 1:50 p.m. when Robert Brittingham, 25, of Flomaton — who was driving an eastbound 1993 GMC Sierra — reportedly tried to pass another car on the two-lane highway and found himself directly in the path of a westbound 2021 Ford F-150 driven by 56-year-old Anthony Madden of Brewton.
Madden reportedly tried to swerve into a forested area but was unable to avoid the crash. The front end of his truck, which he had bought less than a week prior to the wreck, was ripped apart, with the most severe damage on the passenger’s side.
Madden and a passenger, Anthony Bullard, were both taken by ambulance to Atmore Community Hospital, where each was reportedly treated and released.
Reports show that both men were wearing seatbelts, and each was able to climb from the mangled vehicle.
Brittingham’s pickup was torn apart and flattened when it flipped and came to rest upside-down on the roadside. Miraculously, the Flomaton man was also able to crawl from the wreckage.
He was flown by medical evacuation helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Fla., from which he was reportedly released the next day.
The crash, which took place near the junction of U.S. 31 and Old Atmore Road, kept the federal highway closed for a lengthy period and forced a diversion of traffic around the wreck scene.
Troopers continued this week their investigation into the mishap.
Photos by Joe Thomas/Tri-City Ledger