WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | NC pastor killed in SC church van wreck, 6 injured
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LANCASTER COUNTY, SC (WBTV) - Funeral arrangements have been released for the pastor of a Belmont church who died Saturday afternoon after the church van he was driving collided head-on with a pickup truck.
The accident happened on Highway 903 east of Lancaster, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol. Rev. Ronnie Wilson of Southpoint Freewill Baptist Church was driving the van back from a men's golf retreat in Myrtle Beach.
Wilson died at the scene, and four passengers in the van were taken to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
A visitation for Wilson's family will be held at SouthPoint Free Will Baptist Church on Wednesday from 5-9pm and Friday from 12-3pm. Wilson's funeral will be at held on Friday at 3pm with burial at Gaston Memorial Park.
Lance Cpl. Jeff Gaskins with the N.C. Highway Patrol said Wilson's van hit a pickup truck head-on after he swerved to avoid a trailer that lost a tire.
Two people in one of the other vehicles involved was ejected and airlifted to the hospital. Troopers say they were not wearing seatbelts.
Altogether, six people were taken to the hospital with serious to critical injuries.
Church members gathered at the church in Belmont Saturday evening as news of the accident spread. Services were canceled at the church Sunday, but members gathered with deacons at the church to pray.
Wilson, who was 64, had led the church since 1999 and helped build a new building in 2005. A church deacon said Wilson was married 41 years and had two grown children.
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