Chandler Truck Wreck Kills Two - Tire Blowout Suspected Cause

Truck Tire Blowout Kills Two, Injures Two Others Two East Texas residents remain hospitalized in Tyler following a deadly three-vehicle wreck near Chandler Tuesday. Chandler resident Mary Thorn is listed in serious condition and Flint resident Kreg Vaughn is listed in fair condition at Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler. Another Chandler resident, Billy Wayne Duke, was treated and released shortly after being admitted. According to Texas Department of Public Safety reports, Thorn suffered head trauma and Vaughn suffered leg injuries in the wreck. Two other motorists were killed in the wreck. Gloria Melton, 56, and Thorn’s husband Albert Thorn, both of Chandler, were pronounced dead at the scene by Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Sue Starnes. The wreck occurred about two miles south of Chandler on Farm-to-Market Road 315 on a bridge over Lake Palestine. The bridge, which runs between FM 3079 and Sportsman’s Road, was closed for clean-up after the wreck. According to DPS, at around 11:30 a.m. a northbound garbage truck driven by Duke suffered a blowout of its left front tire. The truck drifted into the southbound lane, where it collided with a southbound Dodge Caravan minivan driven by Melton and flipped onto its side. The truck was also struck by a southbound Buick sedan driven by Vaughn. Mary and Albert Thorn were both passengers in the minivan. The incident is being investigated by State Trooper Brent Davis, who was assisted at the scene by Sgt. Andres Delagarza and troopers Jason Rolison, Johnny Massie and John Watson . The wreck was also responded to by the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department and the Chandler Volunteer Fire Department.