Man who was pinned under flaming vehicle dies month after crash, SC coroner says
A South Carolina man died in a Georgia hospital more than a month after he was in a fiery crash, according to the Aiken County Coroner’s Office.
Austin Zabilowicz, a 31-year-old Jackson resident, died June 20, the coroner’s office said Monday in a news release.
In the early morning hours of May 16, Zabilowicz was riding a motorcycle that involved in a crash with a car, according to the release.
At about 3:30 a.m. May 16, Zabilowicz was driving south on Aiken’s Whiskey Road on a 2002 Harley-Davidson when he collided with the rear of a 2016 Hyundai sedan near the intersection with Chukker Creek Road, the coroner’s office said.
Zabilowicz was pinned underneath the motorcycle when it caught fire, according to the release.
He was taken to the Joseph M. Still Burn Unit at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Georgia, the coroner’s office said. Zabilowicz was being treated at the hospital when he died at 4:52 p.m. last Friday, according to the release.
No other injuries were reported.
Information about what caused the motorcycle and car to collide was not available, but the wreck continues to be investigated by the coroner’s office and the Aiken Department of Public Safety.
Through Sunday, 371 people had died on South Carolina roads in 2025, according to the state Department of Public Safety. Last year, at least 948 people died in crashes in South Carolina, DPS reported.
At least eight people have died in Aiken County crashes in 2025, according to DPS data. There were 28 deaths in the county in 2024, DPS reported.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Man who was pinned under flaming vehicle dies month after crash, SC coroner says."
