A 23-year-old Pageland, S.C., man was fatally injured in an early morning accident on Tuesday, April 28, just south of Morven.

The collision occurred at 6:03 a.m. on RP 1103, Sandy Ridge Church Road, about eight-tenths of a mile south of Morven, near the South Carolina line, said Trooper Mark Helms, a traffic safety information officer with the N.C. Highway Patrol.

A 2001 Ford pickup truck, owned and operated by Chadrick J. Rivers, 30, of Jefferson, S.C., was pulling a large trailer filled with pine straw when part of the load was lost. Rivers made a U-turn and stopped in the road, across the center line.

The passenger, 23-year-old William Thomas Mungo Jr. of Pageland, S.C., got out of the vehicle to help reload the straw trailer, Helms reported.

At that point, a 1997 Thomasbuilt school bus, owned by Anson County Schools and operated by Daisy Coleman Melton, 45, of Morven, came from the other direction of Sandy Ridge Church Road, Helms said. Rivers saw the bus coming and attempted to get back in the driver's seat and move the truck but the school bus, while still in its lane, sideswiped the open door of the truck, which caused the trailer to separate from the pickup truck and overturn, fatally injuring Mungo.

The bus driver suffered minor injuries and the truck driver was not injured, Helms said. Mungo was transported to Anson Community Hospital by Anson County EMS. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

No alcohol or drugs were suspected with any of those involved in the accident.

The school bus sustained the most damage— $9,500— and was not drivable. The pickup also had extensive left side damage, totaling $2,500.

Charges were pending in the case, Helms said. The accident report, by investigating officer Trooper K.J. Hower, indicated that Melton had failed to reduce speed and Rivers had crossed the center line.