POWELLSVILLE – Despite the brave efforts of two bystanders, an Ahoskie woman died in a tragic car accident where the vehicle crashed and burned near here Wednesday afternoon.

The single-vehicle accident occurred shortly after 2:15 p.m. on the Sallie Freeman Road (SR 1315), approximately one-half mile south of Powellsville. There, 22-year-old Shameiano Askew was operating a 2002 Buick passenger car owned by Sharone Chamblee of Colerain.

According to a report filed by North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper J.V. Reid, the vehicle was traveling south at which time it traveled off the right side of the road. Reid said Askew apparently overcorrected the steering, causing her to lose control of the vehicle as it then struck a ditch and impacted a utility pole where it came to rest.

“The vehicle caught fire at that point with the driver still inside,” said Reid. “Two bystanders attempted to pull the driver out of the vehicle, but the flames were too intense for them to complete their effort. They told me that the driver was unconscious at that time.”

Reid’s investigation of the accident scene led him to conclude that exceeding safe speed for conditions (a curve on a wet road), overcorrecting, and oversteering were contributing factors to the accident.

The motor vehicle fatality was the first of the year in the NCHP’s Troop A/District 2 area (Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties).