York County SC Helene fatality: Woman, 66, dies after truck hits her cutting tree

A Clover woman has died after a truck hit her Friday morning while she and others were cutting a fallen tree in western York County caused by Tropical Storm Helene.

Victoria Leger, 66, died Saturday at a hospital in Gaston County, N.C., according to the York County Coroner’s Office . Three people with her also were hurt when the truck hit them.

The fatality is believed to be the only death in York County connected to the storm, according to York County Coroner Sabrina Gast and Chuck Haynes, county director of emergency management .

A Dodge pickup hit four people and the tree around 9:10 a.m. Friday on Lawrence Road near the town of Clover, Master Trooper Brandon Bolt of the S.C. Highway Patrol said in a news release.

The other people cutting the tree were also hospitalized, Bolt said. The truck driver was not injured.

Trees were uprooted or down across York County Friday as Helene hit the upstate of South Carolina. The people trying to remove the tree were not emergency workers, according to Greg Suskin, York County spokesman.

The names and conditions of the others involved have not been released as the investigation continues.

Helene deaths in SC and NC

As many as 12 people died in South Carolina during the storm in Greenville, Anderson, Spartanburg and Aiken counties, The State newspaper reported.

There were another 30 reported deaths in North Carolina from the storm, as previously reported by Charlotte Observer.