The Copiah County Sheriff’s Department is continuing its investigation of a deadly Saturday morning traffic accident that took the lives of three Lincoln County residents and injured two others.

“We haven’t been able to confirm anything new about the cause yet,” Copiah sheriff’s investigator Milton Twiner said, adding that he was only able to release “the identity of the deceased.”

Hope Lashanna Norris, 31, Emily Elizabeth Presley Vining, 31, and Hayden Paul Hux, 18, all of Lincoln County, were killed when a 1997 Chevrolet extended cab pickup truck went out of control on Old Red Star Road in Copiah County at around 2 a.m. Saturday, Twiner said.

He said the driver lost control of the truck, which left the left side of the road, and the driver’s side tailgate struck a tree. The vehicle spun around and struck a second tree and burst into flames, Twiner continued.

Charles Willie Thomas, 23, and Eric Michael Young, 19, both of Lincoln County, survived the wreck when they were thrown from the vehicle, Twiner said.

The investigator said the two survivors were in stable condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center on Saturday when sheriff’s department deputies questioned them about the wreck.

He said he could not officially say at this point who was driving the pickup, since the accident is still under investigation and the information could not be released yet.

Twiner did add that investigators found evidence of a cooler and cold beers at the scene of the accident and are investigating whether alcohol was involved in the cause of the wreck.