Cary father, daughter killed in Columbus County crash
Chadbourn N C: A Cary man and his young daughter were killed Thursday in a crash in Columbus County, authorities said.
A Ford Focus ran a stop sign at the intersection of U.S. Highway 74 and N.C. Highway 410 near Chadbourn and was hit by a tanker truck, according to Sgt. Matt Young of the State Highway Patrol.
The car erupted in flames, and Mukesh Deshmukh, 37, and Divija Deshmukh, 2, were killed, Young said.
Monika Deshmukh, 36, who was driving the car, was taken to Columbus Regional Healthcare and then transferred to New Hanover Regional Hospital in Wilmington. She was moved to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill on Friday.
Chadbourn crash
Young said it appears the family was headed to Myrtle Beach for the weekend when the crash occurred.
The tanker truck ran off an embankment and struck a tree, but there were no leaks from the tank, Young said. The truck driver, whose name wasn’t released, was taken to Columbus Regional, where he was treated and released.
No charges had been filed as of Friday.
A GoFundMe page in support of the family has already raised more than $90,000.
According to the page, Mukesh Deshmukh is originally from a small village in India and works with software in the Triangle.
“Mukesh was a thorough gentleman with a calm and quiet nature. He lived a simple live and could go to any extent to help his friends, family and the needy,” the page’s author says.