Fatal accident on Interstate 64 west at West Point exit

A Newport News man died Friday morning when the bus he was driving (shown above) ran off the Interstate 64 Route 33/West Point westbound off ramp and struck a tree.

Photo courtesy of Sandra Jones, WTVR Channel 6 Richmond

A Newport News man is dead as the result of an accident on Interstate 64 westbound on Friday morning.

Paul R. Clewis, 62, died at the scene of the accident after a 15-seat passenger bus he was driving ran off the right side of the road and struck a tree shortly after 9 a.m. on the 220 exit ramp (Route 33/West Point) westbound on Interstate 64. He was the only occupant on the bus.

The exit ramp was closed for several hours, but reopened at 1:25 p.m.

The result of the accident also triggered a subsequent crash involving a van rear-ending another vehicle just east of the fatal accident scene. The second crash sent two people to a local hospital.

The accident is the third deadly mishap on I-64 in less than a week. One occurred in almost the same location as today’s fatal accident.

Last Sunday (March 8) around 12 noon, Richmond resident Anthony K. Purter, 46, died when his 1999 Mercury Mountaineer ran off the road on westbound I-64 and struck several trees at the 220-mile marker, just beyond the scene of today’s crash.

Then on Wednesday (March 11) around 9:30 a.m., another Richmond resident, Jennifer P. Wilson, 43, died at the scene of a five-vehicle, chain reaction accident near the eastbound 211-mile marker when her car was crushed between two tractor-trailers. The driver of one of the big rigs has been charged with reckless driving.