Highway 203 crash kills 3, severely injures 3

By CATHY LOGG

Herald Writer

DUVALL — Two adults and a child died and three others were severely injured Sunday in a head-on crash on Highway 203 near Cherry Valley Road north of Duvall.

The survivors were airlifted directly from the highway to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where one man was listed in critical condition, and a man and a woman were listed in serious condition Sunday night.

The crash resulted in the highway being closed for more than six hours from 203rd Street SE to Woodinville-Duvall Road in Duvall, according to Snohomish County sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Onderbeke.

Numerous law officers, fire, medical aid and state Department of Transportation personnel worked somberly in the rain and the darkness.

"They’re all bad, but the ones with kids are really sad," Washington State Patrol Sgt. Shawn E. Berry said. "This was an awful one."

Preliminary investigation indicated that a northbound Ford pickup and a southbound Chevrolet pickup and camper pulling a small utility trailer collided about 3:05 p.m. in the southbound lane. There were three people in each pickup.

Two people, one from each vehicle, died on impact, Berry said. Firefighters had to cut off the roof of one truck and some doors to extricate the other four, who were trapped with severe injuries in the wreckage, he said.

Troopers said four people were airlifted from the scene, but only three were seen at Harborview. No details were available on when or where the third victim died.

After the impact, both trucks plunged off the road on the west side. The camper flew over the top of the wreckage and was torn apart, leaving the family’s belongings strewn about the scene. The utility trailer, which contained two off-road vehicles, also was destroyed, with only the bottom and some upper framing intact.

No fuel or chemicals leaked, the patrol said.