MILTON, W.Va. — An Ironton man was killed in a fiery three-vehicle accident on Interstate 64 Wednesday afternoon.

Around 3:30 p.m. two cars traveling west on the interstate collided sending both vehicles into the median and over the cable barriers.

“The mass and momentum sent them into the path of an oncoming 18-wheeler, striking the 18-wheeler,” Cabell Sheriff Tom McComas said. “Due to the violent impact the 18-wheeler erupted into flames and was consumed very rapidly in flames.”

The tractor-trailer went off to the right and came to rest against the guardrail, the sheriff said.

Sheriff’s deputies found two bodies in the cab and a third, presumably the driver, over the embankment. The bodies were of two adults and a child and are believed to be from Georgia.

The Ironton driver was pinned into his vehicle and died at the scene, McComas said. The other driver from West Virginia was transported to a Huntington hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

All four lanes of the interstate were shut down for three hours. One eastbound lane remains closed as highway workers repair the guardrails.

McComas declined to identify the victims to give the families time to notify all next of kin.