PRESCOTT — A fuel truck with an empty tank and a bus chartered for a Special Olympics event crashed and overturned on an icy highway in southeastern Washington on Saturday, injuring several people.
Six people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, said Washington State Patrol trooper Mike Jensen.
The fuel truck was driving west on Highway 124 north of Walla Walla when it lost traction and slid off the road, and the Special Olympics bus — with 32 people on board after a day of skiing at Bluewood — followed suit, rolling onto its side. Two other cars also skidded off the road.
The injuries consisted mostly of bruises, scrapes and sore backs, Jensen said.
The roads were so slick that emergency workers initially had trouble reaching the scene. Some walked from about a half-mile away, Jensen said, and four-wheel drive vehicles eventually drove through a field to get closer to the crash site.
“We could drive better in the fields than we could on the road,” Jensen said.
Freezing rain also forced the State Patrol and Department of Transportation to close Interstate 82 from Kennewick to the Oregon border.
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