UPDATE: Police Identify Man Killed in Cartersville Wreck

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Cartersville police continue to investigate a fatal, multi-vehicle accident along Interstate 75 in Bartow County that snarled Tuesday morning traffic.

According to the agency, a 1990 Ford F15 truck lost control and spun out north of the bridge over the Etowah River, which is north of the Red Top Mountain Road interchange.

That truck was struck by a 1998 Honda Accord driven by Gabriel Desantiago-Pichardo, 38, of Smyrna.

Both drivers got out of vehicles, which were situated in the left emergency lane and partially out into the left traffic lane of oncoming traffic, Cartersville police spokesperson Major Mark Camp said.

It is unknown where exactly the drivers were standing, Camp said. A third vehicle — a 2011 Mazda 6 — tries to avoid the accident, but strikes wires along the guardrail in the median. This vehicle does not hit anything else, Camp said.

A fourth car — a 2008 Honda Accord — also tried to avoid the accident, but the guard rail wires ”are now low enough that the fourth car goes over the guardrail and strikes the driver (Desantiago-Pichard) of the car that was involved in the accident with the truck, knocking the driver across the median,” Camp added.

The driver said he hit the guardrail and “started spinning.” When his vehicle came to a stop, the driver told officers he saw Desantiago-Pichard “lying on the southbound side of the median,” Camp said.

Desantiago-Pichard was pronounced dead at the scene. Camp said he was told it had been raining for about 45 minutes before the pileup occurred.

An ambulance traveling along the interstate came upon the scene and stopped to help. A fifth car ended up striking the ambulance’s rear industrial bumper, causing minor damage. The ambulance accident was being treated as a separate incident and was worked by the Georgia State Patrol.

No charges or citations have been issued at this time.

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Image via Shutterstock