A Port Gibson father of three was killed Monday when his truck collided with a jackknifed trailer carrying a car on North Washington Street.

Mark Watts, 54, 1060 Griff Circle, died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest around 1:45 p.m., Coroner Doug Huskey said.

Watts was about three-quarters of a mile north of Klondyke Trading Post headed south on North Washington in a 1993 GMC Sanoma after leaving work about a mile away at Anderson-Tully, said Vicksburg police officer Leonce Young.

A northbound F-150 driven by George Patterson, 53, 2610 Oak St., was hauling a Chrysler Fifth Avenue when the trailer hit the embankment and jackknifed, Young said. The truck and trailer swerved into the southbound lane and the trailer struck Watts’ truck, Young said.

Patterson was not injured, Young said, and the only damage to the F-150 appeared to be from the trailer jackknifing.

The weight of the Fifth Avenue crushed the front of Watts’ truck and knocked the roof of the truck several feet away onto the bed of nearby railroad tracks.

Traffic was detoured around the wreck site until about 5:30 p.m.

Watts’ brother, Lionel Watts, arrived at the wreck site about 3 p.m. after receiving a call from traffic department Lt. Jackie Johnson. Johnson said he and the Watts brothers grew up together in Port Gibson.

“It’s always hard to work a wreck when it’s someone you know,” Johnson said.

With a hand on his head, Lionel Watts took a long look at the wreck scene before he turned his back and paced along the railroad tracks as he phoned family members.

Mark Watts had a wife and three children, all living in Port Gibson, Lionel Watts said.

He remembered his brother as an avid outdoorsman.

“He loved hunting and fishing — anything outdoors,” Lionel Watts said.

Mark Watts had been a forklift driver at Anderson-Tully for about seven years, said human resources director Mike Myrick.

“He was just a good, reliable employee and well-liked by everybody,” Myrick said.

The company is offering counseling services to employees to help them deal with Mark Watts’ death, Myrick said.

“It’s kind of a shock to us all,” Myrick said. “It’s just a horrible, horrible tragedy.”

Funeral services for Mark Watts are pending at Thompson Funeral Home in Port Gibson.

Mark Watts’ death was the second fatal wreck in Vicksburg this year. Three people have been killed in wrecks in Warren County outside the city this year.