ANDERSON — A fatality reported during the five-hour stretch of accidents that plagued Madison County Monday evening had nothing to do with road conditions.

Marian Dunnichay of the Madison County Coroner’s office said the man’s name could not yet be released Monday night because family members had not been notified.

Dunnichay said the man was battling terminal cancer and had been driving himself to the Community Hospital emergency room for treatment when the accident occurred.

Dunnichay, who knew the victim, said it was not uncommon for the man to drive himself to the hospital during an emergency related to his cancer.

Though Anderson police responded to the accident in the 1200 block of Vanbuskirk Road at 5:44 p.m., during the time frame when police and fire emergency responders were being inundated with weather-related crashes all over the city, Dunnichay said the victim likely died before the car crashed. “We feel like he probably succumbed to the cancer and the car just veered off the road.”

“The accident was basically secondary. He did not die from those injuries,” Dunnichay said.

Vanbuskirk Road, where the accident occurred, was closed temporarily on Monday as police cleared the wreckage.

Dunnichay said the crash victim’s name would likely be released on Tuesday.