Three people were killed and three others injured, one critically, when a vehicle went off the freeway in Kalama and overturned Saturday, according to the Washington State Patrol.
WSP Trooper Will Finn said the crash occurred at 4:36 p.m. in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 at Exit 27 in Kalama.
Finn said a large SUV carrying six occupants — three adults and three children — went off the roadway and overturned, rolling at least one and a half times before coming to rest on its roof.
Five of the six SUV occupants — two adults and three children — were ejected, according to Finn. He said it’s believed that none of those five had been wearing seat belts.
The first trooper arriving on scene attempted CPR on one of children, a girl, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Two adults, the girl’s grandparents, were also dead at the scene, according to Finn.
Another child suffered critical injuries and was transported by LifeFlight to a hospital, Finn said.
The mother of the three children and a third child were transported by ambulance to a hospital in Longview. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known, according to Finn.
Troopers investigating the crash believe some sort of distraction had occurred in the SUV, taking the driver’s attention away from the road just as traffic slowed. The vehicle went off the road after the driver took aggressive action to avoid the slowed cars ahead.
The name and hometown of the victims was not released Saturday, pending notification of next of kin. Finn said the family was from Washington, however, and was traveling toward home.
