Columbia, TN : 2 teenage boys killed in a serious crash on Spring Break in Columbia on Thursday, March 31, 2016
Two teenage boys, ages 15 and 17, were killed in a serious crash while on Spring Break in Columbia on Thursday.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the car went around a curve on Theta Pike next to Starr Farms when it ran off the road into a concrete culvert around 12:20 p.m.
The car then flipped and caught fire.
“We were in the kitchen and saw black smoke. We looked out the front window there and saw a car upside down fully engulfed in flames,” witness Gary Starr said.
The driver, identified as 15-year-old Christopher Sawyers, was thrown from the car.
Both he and his passenger, 17-year-old Charles Poe, were killed in the crash. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
“Nothing is any worse than what we are dealing with today,” Trooper Chris Hannah said. “It cannot get any worse. Having to talk to the parents and then having to see this ourselves as emergency personnel… It just doesn’t get any worse than that.”
News 2 learned Christopher was a home-school student while Charles attended Spring Hill High School.
Authorities said there is no evidence the driver was distracted, and they are looking into whether or not speed was a factor.
The Maury County Sheriff’s Office and fire department both responded to the scene, as well as the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is handling the investigation.
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2 teenage boys, ages 15 and 17, killed in Columbia crash