GEORGE WEST – Two men died in a tractor-trailer rollover at 6 a.m. Saturday southwest of George West on U.S. Highway 59, according to a Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Yared Legesse Tetmke, 39, from Raleigh, N.C., was the driver of the 2005 Volvo truck tractor pulling a 2012 Hyundai van trailer.

His passenger was Samson Tefera, 34, of Stone Mountain, Ga.

Both men were pinned in the tractor and later died.

They were pronounced dead at the scene at 9:35 a.m. by Justice of the Peace Jim Lane and taken to Roberson Funeral Home in Three Rivers.

The driver was wearing a seat belt, but his passenger was not, according to the accident report prepared by Trooper Kolton Kendall.

The tractor-trailer rig was headed south on U.S. 59 when it ran off the road, went through a fence, hit several trees and overturned, according to the report.

In addition to the Department of Public Safety, the George West Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene.