A Thomasville, Ala., man died instantly Tuesday when the Chevrolet S-10 pickup he was driving collided with an 18-wheeler at about 3:45 p.m. on Hwy. 19 South near the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

Joshua Hill, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the 18-wheeler, owned by Yelder and Son Trucking Inc. of Montgomery, Ala., was unhurt.

An accident scene reconstructionist from the Mississippi Highway Patrol was on scene to determine the cause of the fatal accident.

Shreds of rubber from at least three blown tires on the flat bed trailer were strewn along about 100 feet of the roadway. There also were shredded pieces from the Chevrolet truck all along the crash scene.

This section of Hwy. 19 doesn’t have a shoulder. Loose dirt and gravel a foot wide suddenly gives way to a 10-foot deep ditch littered with pine tree stumps from a recent timber harvest.

A rut in the dirt and gravel off the northbound lane where the big rig was traveling toward Meridian showed just how far the driver pulled off in order to try and miss the oncoming truck carrying Hill.

“His truck scrape down the side of the cab and hit the first wheel and axle,” said the big rig driver who wished to remain anonymous. “I was seriously trying to get in the ditch to miss him but the impact bent the axle to the left and that pulled me into the road again.”

Vimville and Whynot emergency units and volunteers worked the scene keeping one lane open to traffic.