A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sara Anderson, St. George News
This is a developing story and may be updated as further details emerge.
UPDATE – 8:49 p.m: The traffic backups have cleared.
UPDATE – 8:26 p.m: Nevada Highway Patrol has opened both southbound lanes and traffic is beginning to clear up.
UPDATE – 7:21 p.m: Some motorists have become upset over the traffic delay and even running out of fuel, Bottoms said, adding that he is doing everything he can to assist in keeping traffic moving. The highway remains restricted in Nevada and backed up 10 miles in Arizona.
MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. –One person is confirmed dead Sunday afternoon following a car-versus-semitrailer collision, occurring around 2 p.m. on southbound Interstate 15 near the Arizona-Nevada state line. Numerous St. George News readers have submitted photos from the scene; please see the photo gallery at the bottom of this report.
“Right now, it’s absolute chaos on I-15 between St. George and Mesquite,” Arizona Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol Sgt. John Bottoms said around 3:45 p.m. MST. “Traffic is backed up 7 miles through the construction zone, and then you get out of the construction zone and travel about 7 miles and find another 7 miles of traffic back up.”
Nevada Highway Patrol and the Arizona Department of Public Safety were restricting traffic along I-15, utilizing the emergency lanes for travel in both north- and southbound directions near Nevada milepost 122, Bottoms said.
Unconfirmed witness reports indicate the driver of the car was traveling on northbound I-15 before crossing the median to possibly make a U-turn before colliding head-on with the semi; confirmation from authorities was not immediately available.
The semitrailer became engulfed in flames following the collision, and preliminary reports indicate extrication and Mercy Air had been requested to the scene.
Bottoms confirmed a fatality as a result of the collision, but had no further information about the victim as this report is published.
At 4:45 p.m. MST, southbound I-15 traffic through the Virgin River Gorge construction zone was backed up for 7.5 miles, Bottoms said, with traffic being backed up an additional 8 miles between Mesquite, Nevada, and Littlefield, Arizona, in the area of the fatal collision.
The estimated drive time from Mesquite to St. George, Bottoms said, is more than 2 hours.
St. George News will have more information about this collision as it is made available. Please check back for updates.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Ale Ruvalcaba, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Ale Ruvalcaba, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Ale Ruvalcaba, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Steve McMahon, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Steve McMahon, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Charidy Neff, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Charidy Neff, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Charidy Neff, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Charidy Neff, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Wes Bo, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Wes Bo, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Amos Detsoi, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Megan Leigh Reeder Uiva'a, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Chele Sellman, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Dacia Vega, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sara Anderson, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sara Anderson, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sara Anderson, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Sara Anderson, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Dawn Mclain, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Felix Vega, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Angie Adams Stark, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Angie Adams Stark, St. George News
A fatal collision near southbound Interstate 15 Arizona-Nevada State Line has traffic severely backed up, Mohave county, Arizona, Aug. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Jonathan Martin Kaiaokamalie Tomas, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kimberly Scott is a lifetime resident of Southern Utah. In 2013, Kimberly joined St. George News as a vital member of its editing, reporting and administrative team. She is passionate about engaging communities through writing and is dedicated to providing complete and accurate coverage of both anticipated and breaking news.
The car was just using textbook st george driving tactics. he didn’t know any better
If it wasn’t for car crashes SGNews wouldn’t have anything to report. I forgot, there are quilting shows and temple ground breaking ceremonies.
Fun Bag, is there no limit to your rudeness and insensitivity?
Shood uh tooked a cab
“Dexter”? LOL!!!! Guess who’s parking mommy, you make it too easy. You are the reason planned parenthood exists. LOL, “Dexter”.
Awe you poor little thing….
It used to be sagemoon.