tremonton crash main

The minivan involved in a Tuesday crash near Tremonton, Utah, that left a 27-year-old woman dead and a 3-year-old seriously injured, authorities said.

TREMONTON, Utah — A minivan passenger died on Tuesday after being ejected from the vehicle on I-15 near Tremonton along the Idaho-Utah border.

Around 5:30 p.m., according to a news release from the Utah Department of Public Safety, a Ford Freestar minivan with six occupants was headed northbound at a speed purportedly far below the posted speed limit.

Traveling in the right lane, the minivan “was rear-ended by a Freightliner semi,” the news release states. The minivan spun off the right side of the road and rolled, authorities wrote, ejecting a 27-year-old woman and a 3-year-old child who were not wearing safety restraints.

All occupants were transported to a local hospital, according to the release, where the woman died from injuries sustained during the crash. The 3-year-old was airlifted to another hospital, authorities wrote, while the remaining four did not sustain significant injuries.

Sgt. Cameron Roden, the public information officer with the Utah Highway Patrol, said the driver was 29 years old and the remaining uninjured occupants were all under the age of 11.

The most recent updates given to Roden indicated the 3-year-old was in the hospital in serious condition.

Roden said the minivan was “half-on, half-off the road” when the collision occurred, and the truck driver told troopers the minivan appeared suddenly prior to the crash.

Roden said there were no immediate indicators of intoxication for either party.

The woman’s name has not been released. Roden said troopers are working to verify the woman’s identity.

Roden said the occupants of the minivan apparently reside outside of the country. Though it’s unclear if they were immigrating or vacationing, Roden said it appeared they had only been in the U.S. for a couple of days and the minivan does appear to be registered to the driver.

Roden said the incident involved some “unique twists” and was still under investigation.

According to the release, the minivan was reported to authorities prior to the accident for having been parked in the emergency lane, though troopers could not find the minivan on the roadway.

The minivan was later located at a gas station, authorities wrote, where the driver was contacted and the incident was cleared.

“Shortly after the Trooper cleared the incident is when the crash occurred,” the news release states.

“There’s still a lot to look into,” Roden said, encouraging the public to report reckless drivers by calling 911.

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