South Carolina man killed in crash that leaves three others hospitalized, cops say

One person was killed Saturday night in a crash on a Midlands road that left three other people hospitalized, according to the South Carolina Highway Patrol .

Tony Lee Canty, a 56-year-old Ridgeway resident, was the back-seat passenger who died in what Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill called an accident on Monday.

The two-vehicle collision happened Saturday at about 7:15 p.m. in Fairfield County, said Cpl. Nick Pye.

Both a 2013 Chevrolet SUV and a 2003 Ford van were driving north on U.S. 21 , according to Pye. Near the intersection with Old 21 Road the vehicles collided, Pye said.

Canty, who was one of two passengers in the Chevy, died at the scene, according to Hill.

An autopsy will be scheduled to determine Canty’s cause of death, Hill said.

Both the Chevy driver and a front-seat passenger were taken to an area hospital, according to Pye. The Ford driver was the only person in the van, and was also taken to an area hospital, Pye said.

Further information on the surviving victims’ conditions was not available.

No other injuries were reported.

Canty was not wearing a seat belt, according to Hill. There was no word if any of the other people involved in the crash were wearing seat belts.

Information about what caused the vehicles to collide was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the Highway Patrol and coroner’s office.

Through Oct. 6, at least 723 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, 1,030 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.

At least 10 people have died in Fairfield County crashes in 2024, according to DPS data. There were 15 deaths reported in the county in 2023, DPS said.