CANTON - Two Greenwood residents died when their van crashed and burned on Interstate 55 near Canton Thursday afternoon.
The van hit the back of a truck working on the northbound shoulder of the interstate, the Mississippi Highway Patrol said.
Marvelin McDowell, 32, was driving north on I-55 when the crash occurred just north of the Big Black River bridge, said highway patrol spokesman Warren Strain.
McDowell was ejected from the vehicle. Rose Russell, the passenger, was trapped in the car when it burst into flames. Russell's age was not known, said Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers, who placed the time of the accident around 3 p.m.
Shivers said the truck involved in the accident was a commercial water truck doing maintenance work for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
McDowell was the maintenance director at Greenwood Health & Rehabilitation Center. He held that position for most of the past year, said McDowell's uncle, Iseral McDowell of Greenwood.
McDowell "was a nice young man. He was OK," said Iseral McDowell. He said McDowell was a member of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church.
Both were declared dead at the scene, he said.
The bodies were transported on Thursday to Mississippi Mortuary Services in Pearl, where autopsies will be performed, Shivers said.
There were no other injuries in the crash.
