Global Courant 2023-05-19 07:32:03
Oregon State Police say seven people were killed and others injured in an accident involving two semi trucks and a passenger car on Interstate 5 in a farming area between Salem and Eugene
Oregon State Police troopers work near the site of a wrecked tractor trailer along Interstate 5 in Albany, Oregon, on Thursday, May 18, 2023. Multiple people were killed and others injured in a multi-vehicle accident Thursday on Interstate 5 near Albany, Oregon, police said. (Alex Powers/Albany Democrat-Herald via AP)
The associated press
ALBANY, OR — Seven people were killed and several others injured in a multi-vehicle accident Thursday on Interstate 5 in a farming area in western Oregon, police said.
Officers responded to the crash involving two semi trucks and a passenger car in northbound lanes about 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of Albany near the Santiam rest area at around 2:05 p.m., Oregon State Police said in a statement.
Seven adults died, police said, but they did not specify how many were injured.
The passenger vehicle involved was a van, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported.
Bodies covered in plastic could be seen in a nearby field, and the Marion County medical examiner was on the scene, the paper said. A Life Flight helicopter left the scene at around 2:45 p.m
According to the Democrat-Herald, police and firefighters placed a blue tarp on the wrecked van and placed a barrier near one of the trucks to block view of the crime scene.
The van appeared to have been crushed between the trucks, a witness told the Statesman Journal.
“Judging by the damage, it looked like the van was trapped,” said Adrian Gonzalez. “It hit really hard.”
Two Life Flight helicopters landed and took people away while paramedics treated others on the ground, Gonzalez told the paper.
The cause of the crash was under investigation.
I-5’s northbound lanes were closed and traffic was being diverted, state transportation officials said.
Albany is located between Salem and Eugene and is about 70 miles south of Portland. I-5 is the main north-south highway on the west coast.
