Fatal wrecks claim five lives in Mississippi over New Year’s holiday

Published 10:04 am Wednesday, January 2, 2019

JACKSON (AP) — The Mississippi Highway Patrol says at least five people died and more than two dozen were injured on the state’s roads during the New Year’s holiday.

Capt. Johnny Poulos said in a news release Tuesday that 27 other people were hurt in wrecks from 12:01 a.m. Monday until midnight Tuesday.

Poulos said troopers investigated 92 crashes in the two-day period. Troopers also issued more than 2,450 citations and made 48 drunken driving arrests.

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Fatal wrecks were reported in Rankin, Jackson, Leflore, Pike and Holmes counties.

The most recent crash occurred Tuesday shortly after 1 p.m. in Holmes County when 68-year-old Robert Ousby of Pickens died when his sports utility vehicle ran off a road and overturned several times, throwing him from the vehicle.