A Franklin, Tenn., woman was killed about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a car in which she was a passenger left Interstate 81 near the 26-mile marker in western Greene County.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol dispatcher said Farhat Hamidullah, 21, of Franklin, was a passenger in a 2001 Honda sedan that was being driven north on Interstate 81 when the car went off the left side of the road and plunged into the median, the dispatcher said.

After striking a tree, the car overturned at least once before coming to rest on its wheels.

Although Hamidullah was wearing a seat belt, she suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, Victoria Ciorba, of Bowling Green, Ky., suffered only minor injuries and did not require transportation to a hospital, officers said.

Scott Allen, chief of the Mosheim Volunteer Fire Department, said firefighters at the scene told him that a passing motorist who witnessed the accident used a portable fire extinguisher to put out a small fire beneath the heavily damaged Honda's hood before firefighters reached the scene.

Responding to the 6:30 p.m. accident, in addition to Trooper Paul Penley, were units of the Mosheim Volunteer Fire Department, a Greene County-Greeneville Emergency Medical Services ambulance, and volunteers from the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad.

Northbound traffic on Interstate 81 was restricted to one lane for several hours after the accident while the investigation and removal of the heavily damaged vehicle were in progress.