The weather may have contributed to another fatal car crash on U.S. 72 West in Limestone County Tuesday. This one claimed the lives of two people.

Selina C. Gilbert, 37, and Tiara S. Gilbert, 18, both of 15810 Hardy Road, Athens, were dead at the scene of the accident, according to Limestone County Assistant Coroner Andy Jackson.

Witnesses at the scene of the wreck speculated that one of the vehicles may have hydroplaned during a thunderstorm at about 2 p.m., causing the crash. State troopers are investigating.

Two vehicles, a silver Dodge Intrepid traveling westbound and a silver Dodge Ram traveling east, collided in front of John Farrar’s home on U.S 72 West at Parker Road.

“I was sitting right there reading the paper in the shed and I heard a boom,” said Farrar. “I looked up, and there they were. I just went running over there and started calling on my cell phone for help.”

The driver of the pickup truck, a man stood, seeming badly shaken, with three friends off the right eastbound side of the road where his truck had ended up.

“I talked to the man driving the truck. He said ‘I’m alright,’ that’s all he said to me,” said Farrar. “He was trying to get the door open.”

The wreckage of the car carrying the two women came to rest in the middle of the eastbound lane.

Farrar said the driver of the truck speculated that the car hydroplaned. The vehicles impacted on the front passenger’s side of the truck and the driver’s side of the car. The car’s side was crumbled into the driver’s seat.

Farrar said he could not open the doors. “The girl wasn’t moving, and I knew she was gone,” he said.

State troopers, Owens Volunteer Fire Department, Clements Volunteer Fire Department and Limestone County Rescue Squad responded to the wreck. An unidentified Morgan County EMT was first on the scene.

Farrar said he has lived on U.S. 72 West for 10 years and has witnessed many wrecks there.

State troopers in the past have blamed the weather for several fatalities on the highway. Troopers have been patrolling that section of the highway heavily in past months, issuing more than 200 speeding tickets. Signs lowering the speed limit to 45 mph during rain have also been erected.

“I’ve seen five or six bad ones,” Farrar said, pointing to a big scar on a pine tree in front of his house.

He said in another wreck he had seen, a lady hit the culvert traveling west and her car landed against a tree in his front yard, killing her.

“You’ve got to watch getting in and out of here,” said Farrar. “There’s just something about this strip right here.”