ATLANTA (Reuters) – Three men were likely intoxicated when they tried to walk across a busy 12-lane interstate highway in Atlanta and were struck and killed by a pickup truck early on Tuesday, according to local police.
The men were struck at about 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) while trying to walk across the southbound lanes of Interstate 85, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said. All three died at the scene.
“We do believe they were intoxicated,” said Parish.
The accident shut down the highway for several hours, and traffic was rerouted to side roads as officers investigated, Parish said. The highway has been reopened.
The victims’ identities have not been released, and no charges have been filed against the pickup driver, she said.
(Reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Susan Heavey and Jeffrey Benkoe)