ST. GEORGE — One person died and six others were injured, two of them critically, in a head-on crash on U.S. Highway 89 in Kane County Wednesday.
Officers and emergency personnel responded shortly after 7 p.m. to a three-vehicle crash involving a red Ford pickup truck, a red Ford Edge SUV and a semitractor-trailer, according to a statement released by the Utah Highway Patrol Thursday morning.
The crash was reported near mile marker 74 approximately 10 miles north of Kanab.
The driver of the pickup was transported to an area hospital where he later died from his injuries. The passenger was transported to the hospital with moderate injuries.
In the Edge, two of the passengers were in critical condition, including a 10-year-old child, and were flown from the scene to an area hospital. The driver was ground transported to the hospital with moderate injuries, while the remaining passenger with non-life-threatening injuries went by ambulance.
In the semi, the passenger had moderate injuries and was transported to the hospital by ambulance, while the driver reported no injuries.
At the time of the crash, the pickup reportedly was heading south on US-89 behind the slower-moving semi, while the Edge was heading north along the same highway. The pickup driver pulled into the northbound lane to pass the semi, but before the driver could complete the pass, the pickup struck the Edge head-on in the northbound lane, the UHP said.
The impact pushed the two vehicles back into the southbound lane where both were struck by the semi that careened off the roadway.
According to the statement, “The pickup did not have sufficient distance to complete the pass.”
Multiple police, emergency and fire units responded to the scene, along with at least two medical transport helicopters and multiple ground ambulances. The crash closed traffic in both directions for more than three hours as responders tended to the scene and removed the wreckage from the roadway.
The name of the pickup driver was not released at the time of this report, and no further details were available.
This report is based on statements from police, emergency personnel or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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