SUNBURY – A single-vehicle accident near here on May 22 claimed the life of a Gates County man.

Samuel Lee Morgan, 78, of Corapeake was killed after losing control of a 1993 International farm truck he was operating on US 158 at Acorn Hill, approximately four miles east of Sunbury.

According to a report filed by North Carolina State Highway Patrol Trooper J.S. Archer, Morgan was operating the truck west on US 158 at approximately 9:35 a.m. The vehicle ran off the right side of the highway and the driver overcorrected, causing the truck to veer back to the left at which time it overturned and landed on its wheels on the eastbound shoulder of the road.

Archer’s report revealed the truck was loaded with soybean seed. The report also showed that Morgan was wearing a seatbelt.

The fatality was the ninth of the year within the Highway Patrol’s Troop A, District II service area (Bertie, Gates and Hertford counties). Of those nine fatal mishaps, two have occurred in Gates County.