Utah Highway Patrol officials identified two people who died Thursday night after a wrong-way crash on I-70 in central Utah.(Utah Department of Public Safety)
SALINA, Sevier County — Utah Highway Patrol officials identified two people who died Thursday night after a wrong-way crash on I-70 in central Utah. The two individuals — Russann Johnson and Gregory Romero — were pronounced dead on-scene.
The two crashed around 11:07 p.m. about 30 miles east of Salina.
Johnson was driving a small white car, traveling east in the westbound lanes of the freeway, according to a release from UHP. The car then struck Romero’s Ford Expedition head-on — moments before a semitruck hit the Ford from behind.
This caused Romero’s car to roll down the road and land in the median, catching fire. Romero died upon impact.
Officials say there was a passenger with Romero in the Ford, who was been take to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Johnson was ejected from the small, white car — dying on-scene, according to officials.
Officials suspect that alcohol and drug impairment are possible factors in the wrong-way crash, according to the news release.