By Billy Davis

A Tennessee man was killed Wednesday afternoon in an Interstate 55 wreck that snarled traffic in the northbound and soutbound lanes.

Authorities identified the deceased driver as Kenneth Larry Brown, 61, of Arlington, Tenn.

Brown was driving an SUV that collided with an 18-wheeler, said Gracie Grant-Gulledge, Panola County coroner. Brown died a short time later, she said.

The automobile wreck occurred at the Pope-Courtland exit, south of Batesville.

Brown was traveling north when he crossed the median and collided with the southbound tractor-trailer, said Panola Chief Deputy Andy Estridge, who was on the scene of the accident.

“It was almost a head-on collision,” Estridge said. The truck driver was uninjured, he said.

The accident scene was located just south of the interstate overpass, and southbound drivers were diverted to the exit and entrance ramps to keep traffic flowing.

Northbound drivers waited much longer.

A spokesman for the Miss. Highway Patrol could not be reached by press time Thursday.