16-year-old killed when car slams into bridge on John Belk Freeway

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police told Channel 9 that a teenage driver was killed after a car hit a bridge and flipped along the John Belk Freeway near uptown overnight.

[IMAGES: One killed in John Belk Freeway crash]

Eyewitness News was first to arrive on the scene on the outer loop under the Seventh Street bridge just before 2 a.m.

Investigators said 16-year-old William Blottman was driving a 2005 Toyota Avalon east on the John Belk Freeway at a high rate of speed when he lost control and slammed into a pillar of the Seventh Street bridge.

Paramedics pronounced Blottman dead at the scene. Officers said he was not wearing a seatbelt and that speed played a role in the wreck. Nobody else was in the car.

Police were able to reopen the roadway just before 5:30 a.m.

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