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SALT LAKE COUNTY — A brief but heavy downpour caught drivers off guard and caused three separate wrecks on Interstate 80 Tuesday afternoon. Freeway lanes are closed and traffic is backed up for miles.
Initial reports indicated one of the crashes was fatal. KSL News has since learned that a 70-year-old man was not killed, rather critically injured when his pickup truck rolled on I-80 near mile marker 134.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers say the man was traveling westbound when he lost control. His pickup truck went up the embankment, over the concrete barrier, and ended up in the eastbound lanes.
Troopers say the man was ejected from the vehicle and taken to the hospital in critical condition.
All of the eastbound lanes were shut down for a time, but troopers reopened the freeway just after 6 p.m. Traffic in the canyon is still moving very slowly and will be for quite some time.
Also in the canyon, a pickup truck and what appears to be a station wagon collided in the westbound lanes about a mile up from the first accident. Near 500 East, another accident has shut down three westbound lanes.
All lanes have been reopened.
Email: sdallof@ksl.com
