Journal Editor

A head-on collision early Wednesday morning left one driver dead and closed a stretch of Highway 10 as crews worked to clear the wreckage.

Marcale Gregory, 20, of Greenville, was killed when his car slammed into a tractor-trailer driven by Earnest Fussell, 30, also of Greenville. According to Sgt. Tommy Waters, spokesperson for the Alabama State Troopers, Fussell was eastbound in a Sylvest Farms tractor-trailer when the collision took place between 1:30 and 1:45 a.m. just inside the Crenshaw County line.

Fussell escaped the wreck with minor injuries. Both vehicles burned instantly. Gregory was pronounced dead on the scene as volunteer firefighters from Rutledge and Luverne responded to the accident.

Waters would not speculate as to who was at fault in the accident.

"The matter is still under investigation and because of the amount of damage done, investigators are still trying to sort it all out," he said.

Investigators are also trying to determine if any other people were in the car with Gregory.

Waters did say that Fussell was 'very lucky to be alive.'

"He's very fortunate that he didn't get pinned in or that the force of the crash didn't knock him out," said Waters.

The accident closed Highway 10 for almost 10 hours on Wednesday.