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SALT LAKE CITY — A West Valley City woman is dead and a Logan man is fighting for his life in critical condition after they were both hit by a semi while changing a flat tire on the freeway late Sunday night.
At about 11:50 p.m. on Sunday, a Toyota Corolla travelling northbound on I-15 near mile marker 311 (around 1700 North) in Salt Lake City got a flat tire and pulled over to the side. Mailefihi Tuaone, 27, from West Valley City and Monte Keiaho, 25, from Logan, got out of the car to change the tire and appeared to be entirely in the emergency lane, police said.
A semitruck driving in the right hand lane struck both Tuaone and Keiaho while they were changing the tire. But investigators are still working to figure out if they were hit head-on or if the movement of the semi driving by may have sucked them into the lane.
“The truck hit the person. She was standing up and the gentleman was crouched down, changing the tire,” said UHP Sgt. Donovan Lucas. “It struck her which may have struck him and drug him in.”
Tuaone was pronounced dead on the scene and Keiaho was severely injured and was transported to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. He is in critical condition but expected to survive.
UHP said there was a car in the lane next to the semi truck so the driver was unable to move over in enough time. Currently, there are no charges pending and the driver is cooperating with the investigation.
If you have a flat tire, move over as far as possible, UHP said, or keep driving on the tire until you can exit the freeway.
More information will be posted as it's available.
Contributing: Tracie Snowder
