FAIRMONT — A 60-year-old Fairmont woman was killed Monday morning when the vehicle she was a passenger in left the road and struck a bridge.

Highway Patrol Trooper George Inman, the investigating officer, said it’s unclear what caused the 8:35 a.m. accident that killed Helen Bass of 6537 N.C. 904 and severely injured the driver of the vehicle.

The driver, Annette Miller, 26, of Lake View, S.C., was flown to New Hanover Regional Medical Center and underwent surgery, according to Inman. They were the only two people in the vehicle.

Inman said that Miller was driving a 1993 Saturn east on N.C. 904 toward Fair Bluff when “the vehicle ran off the road to the left and struck a bridge at the Lumber River.’’ Inman said that an investigation to determine what happened is ongoing, but that “speed was not a factor.”

He said Bass and Miller were wearing seat belts and the vehicle’s air bags did deploy. The Saturn was destroyed.