The 2024 Labor Day holiday weekend was a particularly tragic on Mississippi highways.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol reports that there was a significant increase in fatalities during this year’s holiday travel period, with 15 people losing their lives in car crashes across multiple counties—a staggering 275 percent increase from last year’s four fatalities.

The most devastating incident occurred in Warren County, where a bus crash over the weekend claimed the lives of seven people. More than 30 others were injured when the bus overturned, marking one of the deadliest accidents in the state during the holiday period.

Other fatal crashes included:

• Grenada County: On Friday, 62-year-old Barry Campbell of Grenada died after his vehicle left Highway 8 and collided with an embankment around 9:54 a.m. The county also mourned the loss of 18-year-old Robert Noah, a student at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, who was killed in a separate crash.
• Stone County: On Saturday, 34-year-old Jamie Lynn Sullivan of Brandon was killed when the car she was a passenger in overturned after leaving Highway 49 north. The driver, 37-year-old Kristen Arendale, also from Brandon, survived the crash.
• Wilkinson County: On Labor Day, a 2014 Freightliner roll-off driven by 35-year-old Lamonthan Chapman of Gloster overturned on Highway 563 around 9:15 a.m. Neither Chapman nor his passenger, who was airlifted to Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge, were wearing seatbelts.
• Prentiss County: Later on Labor Day, an ATV crash claimed the lives of two Tishomingo residents, 82-year-old Billie J. Moss and his passenger, 61-year-old Billie J. Moss Jr., after their vehicle collided with a 2021 Ford Expedition on Highway 365.
• Issaquena County: Also on Labor Day, 20-year-old Michael Robinson of Greenville died in a multi-vehicle crash.

MHP is continuing to investigate all the incidents. The sharp rise in fatalities serves as a somber reminder of the dangers on the road, particularly during busy holiday periods.