A Greenville man died after his truck veered off a bridge on I-65 near Atmore and burst into flames at around 10:15 Monday morning.

According to authorities on the scene, the driver, 38-year-old David Bentley of Greenville, apparently had a tire blow out, which caused the accident.

After the truck veered off the roadway, it traveled down an embankment where it caught fire, killing Bentley.

Witnesses to the accident said the flames from the truck were high enough to come over the bridge. The fuel tank from the truck separated landing on top of the bridge leaving it covered in diesel fuel.

Bentley was a driver for Richway Transportation Services out of Mobile.

Coworkers of Bentley spoke highly of the type of person he was.

“He was such a good person, a hard worker and a good dad,” Tommy White said.

Robbie Shaw, also with Richway, also spoke highly of Bentley.

“David was just a fine guy,” he said. “He’s going to be missed.”

A second 18-wheeler was hit with debris, but the driver was not injured.

Northbound traffic on I-65 was shut down until late Monday afternoon with traffic diverted into Atmore along Hwy. 21 and down Hwy. 31 into Flomaton then to Hwy. 113 back to I-65, causing traffic delays in both cities.

State Trooper Rice, who is investigating the case, was unavailable for comment at press time.