Poplarville Police officers worked two accidents earlier this week, one was a fatal accident involving two vehicles while the other was a single vehicle accident that damaged two signs.

Police Chief Butch Raby said both accidents occurred Tuesday.

The fatal accident was reported at about 1:21 that afternoon and occurred along Highway 26 near the north bound on ramp to Interstate 59. Officers arrived to find that a westbound 2016 Honda Accord driven by 21-year-old Sandod Sutthiphong of Ford Gordon, Ga., had collided with an eastbound 2007 Kenworth freight truck driven by 49-year-old Jorge Bradley of Cleveland, Ohio.

Raby said investigation into the accident showed that as the freight truck was turning onto the on ramp of the interstate, the Accord collided with the driver’s side bumper of the large truck, sending the Accord into a nearby ravine.

Emergency personnel were called to the scene to transport Sutthiphong to the Pearl River County Hospital and Nursing Home. Raby said that from there he was transported by helicopter to Forrest General Hospital, but midflight he suffered cardiac arrest, forcing the helicopter to turn around and take him back to the hospital in Poplarville. He was pronounced at that hospital.

Bradley reported no injuries as a result of the collision but was cited by troopers with the Mississippi Highway Patrol for incomplete logs and operating with a device not registered with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Raby said.

The second accident was reported at 8:57 p.m. that same day, taking place along Highway 53 near the overpass of the interstate.

Raby said officers arrived to find that 18-year-old Joshua Poole of Poplarville had struck the sign at the off ramp of Interstate 59 and Highway 53, before traversing the overpass and then striking a sign in the McDonald’s parking lot, where the vehicle came to rest. Poole was unresponsive when emergency personnel arrived and transported him to Forrest General Hospital for treatment.

Raby said that while the accident is still under investigation, the use of drugs or alcohol could have been a contributing factor. No charges have been pressed at press time.