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SALT LAKE -- Four more people were killed in traffic accidents in Utah Monday, bringing the tragic total since Thursday to 13.
A four-car accident on State Route 201 near 11400 West is the latest in a tragic string of accidents. Highway troopers at the scene describe the accident as "brutal."
A witness says it happened in the blink of an eye--an accident that killed three people and injured more as several cars collided. The accident closed SR 201 for hours today.
In this case, light snow, wet roads and possibly drugs and alcohol played a part the loss of those three lives.
Witness Nayi Pitcher said, "Coming down here I noticed I hydroplaned a little bit, the roads were not good."
The three people who died were all passengers in a green GMC Jimmy, according to Utah Highway Patrol.
A fourth person is in critical condition.
State troopers say the Jimmy started to spin out of control going west at about 114th west on SR 201. It sideswiped a white car, then got T-boned by a pickup truck.
Lt. Steve Winward, with the Utah Highway Patrol, said, "There was one that was totally out of the vehicle, one that was partially in the vehicle, that was kind of pushed all the way through, and one that was kind of trapped in the back seat."
Inside the white car were a mother and her two young children. They were all taken to the hospital. Police say they are expected to recover from their injuries.
People stopped to assist the mother, successfully getting them out of the car amid all the confusion at the scene.
"I mean, I know when I got here, the people in the SUV were, um, were gone. Um, the little boys were scared, and I hope that family comes out OK," Pitcher said. "Honestly, I was just the closest person there, there was a hundred people to hand them off to, and everybody wanting to help. And I got into a strangers car with two kids covered in blood and glass and he didn't blink."
The drivers of the two pickup trucks and their passengers were not seriously injured.
Police are doing tests to determine if alcohol was a factor in the accident. Troopers say there were beer cans in the green Jimmy.
In all, there were 11 people involved in the four-car pileup. At this point, the names of the people involved in the accident are not being released.
Fatal accident in Tooele County
Earlier Monday, a Tooele County man was killed after he was ejected from the pickup truck he was driving and then pinned beneath the vehicle.
The crash Monday occurred about 3:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 40 about five miles from Bridgeland when the driver of a 2-ton pickup truck lost control of his vehicle on icy roads. The truck went off the right shoulder of the road, Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, then came back on the road and began to fishtail.
The truck left the road a second time and rolled, landing on the driver's side. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected and pinned under the truck when it stopped rolling. He died at the scene. His name has not been released pending notification of family.
A passenger in the vehicle suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to Uintah Basin Medical Center.
The accident was the latest in a string of deadly tragedies that began Friday evening when Mary Sue Dutson, 49, was killed after her car spun out into oncoming traffic on snowy State Route 132 in Juab County and was hit by an oncoming pickup truck.
Multiple accidents kill 6 people over the weekend
Saturday, two brothers, ages 7 and 10, were killed when a vehicle driven by the boys' 18-year-old sister slid out of control on the snowy State Route 165 near Providence in Cache County, and was struck by an oncoming vehicle.
Also Saturday, a 21-year-old woman was killed when her car slid out of control on an icy road into a telephone pole in Weber County.
Saturday night, one woman was killed and two others injured when their vehicle ran out of gas on I-15 near Highland, and they tried to run across the freeway to get help. A 52-year-old woman died at the scene.
Sunday, a Colorado truck driver who was trying to be a good Samaritan and stopped to help the victims of a rollover accident, was hit and killed. The man had stopped to help two people in an SUV that had hydroplaned off I-15 and rolled in Washington County. After he got the two occupants out, another car skidded off the road and hit all three people, killing the truck driver and one of the victims he had just pulled out.
Compiled with contributions from preavy@desnews.com and rpiatt@ksl.com
