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2 die in separate crashes on I-25
Comments 0 | Recommend 04 injured, including a Springs woman, in southern Colorado
Two people were killed and four others injured, including a Colorado Springs woman, in two wrecks on Interstate 25 in southern Colorado on Tuesday.
The first, a head-on crash involving an elderly man driving the wrong way on the highway, was at 9:38 a.m. near U.S. Highway 50 West, Pueblo police said.
Police said 89-year-old Emil Roberts of Pueblo was driving north in southbound lanes of the interstate. Roberts slammed into a GMC moving truck driven by Eileen Garcia, 46, of Colorado Springs. Also riding in the truck was 49-yearold Samuel Martinez of Pueblo.
All three were taken to Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, where Roberts died about two hours after the crash, police said. Martinez suffered serious spinal injuries, and Garcia was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.
Police did not say if they knew why Roberts was driving the wrong way or where he entered the highway.
A third vehicle was involved in the accident, police said. Eric O’Brien, 29, of Aurora was southbound on I-25 in a Chevrolet Impala and swerved into the median to avoid the crash, hitting metal and wire median dividers. He was not injured.
About three hours after that crash, authorities were called to I-25 again, this time on a report of a car that had rolled about 15 miles south of Fountain.
The Colorado State Patrol said three people were in a Jeep Cherokee heading south on I-25 that was pulling a trailer. The SUV drove partially off on the right side of the road, and the driver lost control trying to get it back on the highway. The Jeep and trailer spun across the southbound lanes and rolled into the median, separating the trailer.
The two passengers in the Jeep, 46-year-old Bernardino Herrera-Hernandez and 31-year-old Ricardo Olguin-Melendes, both of Pueblo, were thrown from the vehicle. The State Patrol said both men were taken to Parkview Medical Center with serious injuries.
The driver, who was not identified, remained in the Jeep when it rolled. He died at the scene of the crash, the State Patrol said.
The second crash closed the interstate in both directions, backing up northbound lanes for several miles.
All lanes reopened by 4:30 p.m.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4813 or kim.nguyen@gazette.com
