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FHP Opens I-4 Lanes After Fatal Wreck

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2007

Updated: 10/21/2007 12:20 pm

PLANT CITY - One person was killed and two others injured in a single-car wreck early Sunday morning on Interstate 4 about a half-mile west of the Hillsborough-Polk county line.

Authorities closed down all the eastbound lanes for more than four hours, but by 8:30 a.m. the scene was cleared and traffic again began to flow.

The name of the driver was not immediately released pending notification of the next of kin, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, which is investigating the crash.

Troopers said the 2002 Mitsubishi was eastbound on the interstate when for an unknown reason left the roadway and spun onto the grassy median, where it struck a guardrail and overturned, skidding across the pavement on its roof.

The vehicle came to rest, still overturned, troopers said.

The driver, believed to be a 20-year-old male from Mayport, was killed. He was not wearing a seatbelt, troopers said.

Two passengers, both 23 years old, were transported to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, troopers said. Their names were not released, their conditions unknown.

A second wreck was reported a short distance from the first at the Park Road interchange, but it was unclear if that was related to the first. That wreck was called in shortly before 7 a.m.

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