COUNTY — Separate motorcycle crashes claimed the lives of two Pickens County men in a span of three days last week.

John R. Chastain, 24, died of blunt force trauma after his motorcycle struck a vehicle head-on near Liberty on Wednesday night, according to Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley.

On Saturday afternoon, 30-year-old David Bradley Snyder died at Greenville Memorial Hospital following a single-vehicle accident near Pickens, Kelley said.

S.C. Highway Patrol Cpl. Bill Rhyne said Wednesday’s accident happened at approximately 10:15 p.m. on Liberty Highway near A.T. Mann Road, about three miles west of Liberty. Rhyne said Chastain — who was wearing a helmet — attempted to pass another vehicle on his 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle when he struck a 2002 Jeep Cherokee head-on.

Chastain was ejected from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Three people in the Jeep were uninjured in the wreck, Rhyne said.

Saturday’s accident happened at about 3:50 p.m. on Shady Grove Road, two miles west of Pickens, Rhyne said.

According to Rhyne, Snyder was traveling east on his 1999 Honda motorcycle when he ran off the right side of the road, went down a slight embankment, struck a telephone box and then a piece of farm equipment before finally striking an unoccupied vehicle. Snyder was not wearing a helmet and was ejected from the motorcycle, Rhyne said.

Snyder was airlifted to Greenville Memorial, where he later died.

Both accidents remain under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.