Head-on crash kills man
Published 6:00 pm Thursday, July 14, 2011
GOLD BAR — One man died and seven people were injured Thursday after a high-speed wreck on U.S. 2 in Gold Bar. Traffic backed up for hours as sheriff’s deputies directed drivers along a dirt-road detour.
The head-on crash took place around 11:30 a.m. near the highway’s intersection with First Street, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
A man in a Ford Focus was westbound when he reportedly crossed the center line, striking a van holding seven people. He died at the scene.
Everyone in the van was hurt.
One man with critical injuries was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Hover said. A woman in the van had serious facial injuries. She was taken to a local hospital and was expected to be transferred to Harborview on Thursday night.
Three women and two men in the van were taken to local hospitals. Three of those crash victims were treated and later released.
Investigators believe the van was full of tourists from Texas on their way to Leavenworth, Hover said. Their ages and names weren’t available Thursday.
Since 1999, at least 58 people have died in crashes along U.S. 2 between Everett and Stevens Pass, state records show.
The highway reopened around 4 p.m. The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff’s collision investigation unit.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com
