The state Highway Patrol says a Transportation Department employee died on N.C. 12 when his dump truck rear-ended one that had broken down on the highway.

Trooper William Harrison says a dump truck driven by 36-year-old Michael Brad Stevenson hit one sitting in the road that was driven by 45-year-old Ronnie Allen Anderson. Stevenson's truck caught fire, and he was killed.

Anderson was injured and taken to a hospital in Norfolk, Va.

The men were removing sand from the highway, which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy last month and a more recent nor'easter.

The highway had just reopened Saturday to 4-wheel-drive vehicles. It was closed for several hours Sunday before DOT reopened it but now only during daylight hours and still limited to those vehicles.

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The highway that connects Hatteras Island with the mainland has reopened to 4-wheel-drive traffic during daylight hours only after being closed while authorities investigated an accident that killed a state Transportation Department worker.

The accident on N.C. 12 south of the Bonner Bridge closed the road for several hours early Sunday. It occurred where crews were removing sand after Hurricane Sandy and a nor'easter.

DOT identified the employee as 37-year-old Michael Brad Stevenson of Hertford, who had worked for the department for about 15 years. The state Highway Patrol is investigating the accident, which involved Stevenson and other employee, who was injured. Both were operating dump trucks.

The highway had just reopened Saturday to 4-wheel-drive traffic only after being closed because of damage from the storms.

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The NCDOT says N.C. 12 is closed until further notice following a fatal accident in the work zone involving an NCDOT employee.

The name of the employee is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Authorities say the accident occurred approximately south of the Bonner Bridge in an area where crews were working to remove sand in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the recent Nor’Easter that hit the Outer Banks.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol and NCDOT officials are investigating the accident. N.C. 12 will remain closed pending the outcome of the investigation.

No other details are available at this time.