PONCHATOULA, LA (WAFB) -
Two people
are dead after their vehicle sideswiped an 18-wheeler and wound up upside down
in a canal Sunday evening.
The victims
were identified as Brandon Hampton, 23, of Clinton, MS and Amanda Booker, 23,
of Jackson, MS.
The
accident happened near the northbound end of the I-55 high rise in Ponchatoula
around 6:30 p.m.
According
to the Louisiana State Police, Hampton was driving a 2003 Mercury Mountaineer
and drifted left into the side of a tractor trailer.
Troopers
said Hampton then overcorrected to the right, went off the road and the SUV
flipped as it went in a canal that runs along the interstate.
They added
when the SUV stopped it was upside down in about five feet of water.
Hampton and
Booker were pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver
of the big rig was not injured.
Per
procedure in deadly crashes, a sample of Hampton's blood was sent to the Louisiana
State Police Crime Lab for analysis.
The wreck
remains under investigation.
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