Four crashes were reported within an hour-and-a-half of one another Sunday on Interstate 77 near Chester County during a Thanksgiving weekend that saw eight people killed on the state’s highways.

Between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sunday, state troopers responded to four “minor” crashes on I-77 that halted and congested traffic, said Lance Cpl. Billy Elder with the Highway Patrol.

Elder didn’t have details on the accidents but said they were “nothing life-threatening.”

The S.C. Highway Patrol on Monday released preliminary statewide and county-specific statistics on traffic accidents, fatalities, driving under the influence and tickets for Thanksgiving weekend, starting at 6 p.m. Nov. 21 and ending at midnight Sunday.

Statistics for York, Chester and Lancaster counties include:

York County:

• 20 crashes

• 429 citations for seat belt violations, DUI, speeding and drug possession

353 warnings

• 12 DUI cases, including any citations or arrests that could generate a court case.

Chester County:

• 11 crashes

187 citations

• 122 warnings

• 9 DUI cases

Lancaster County:

• 11 crashes

• 108 citations

• 152 warnings

• 4 DUI cases

The Highway Patrol didn’t report any fatalities in the three counties.

Eight people, including two pedestrians and a bicyclist, were killed on South Carolina roads this weekend, officials say. Five of those deaths occurred Friday through Sunday.

Statewide data for 2012 shows that until midnight Sunday, 101 pedestrians, 102 motorcyclists and 13 bicyclists died on state roads and highways.

Six people in Chester County have died in traffic accidents so far this year. The same number of people died last year, a decrease of four victims from 2010.

This year, seven people in Lancaster County have died in a car crash. Thirteen people died within the same time frame last year.

In York County, 23 people have died on the county’s roads this year. In 2011, 30 people died during the same period.

By Sunday, 744 people had died on the state’s highways in 2012. That’s down slightly from 766 who died last year from Jan. 1 to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Jonathan McFadden803-329-4082