Crime & Safety
Ashburn Man Charged in Fatal I-81 Crash
Manrajbir Singh Kang, of Ashburn, was driving tractor trailer that struck victim's SUV in Pulaski County.
An Ashburn man was charged with reckless driving Thursday after his tractor trailer struck an SUV driving southbound on Interstate 81, causing a fatal crash that killed that vehicle's driver.
Virginia State Police said the victim, Sharon L. Tate, 47, of Crossgate Lane in Franconia, was driving her 2006 Ford Escape SUV shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday heading southbound on I-81 in Pulaski County.
The driver of a tractor-trailer behind her — Manrajbir Singh Kang, 45, of Ashburn — swerved to the left to avoid hitting cars stopped because of a lane closure and hit Tate's car, sending the SUV into the rear of another tractor-trailer that had stopped ahead of her, police said.
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The lane was closed due to bridge construction, VSP said.
Tate, 47, died at the scene. She was the only person in the SUV.
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The crash shut down Interstate 81 for eight hours and caused a five-mile back-up, according to local news reports.
Neither Kang nor the driver of the tractor trailer hit by Tate's car were injured.
The roads reopened at approximately 9 p.m. Thursday.
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