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Six Confirmed Dead Following Crash On 40 Last Friday

Utah Department Of Public Safety

The Utah Highway Patrol is now confirming there were six fatalities in a multiple-vehicle crash on U.S. 40 on Friday after a dump truck driver, reportedly impaired, jumped the median on the highway.

The UHP have also identified one victim from the crash.

The Utah Highway Patrol is reporting the crash occurred shortly before noon near the Jordanelle Reservoir, about 10 miles from Silver Creek Junction.

A dump truck on 40 driving towards the Park City area jumped into the median, over the cable barrier and broadsided a 2003 Dodge Ram pickup truck heading eastbound. There were six occupants in the pickup, all killed in the crash. Three were ejected from the vehicle.

The Highway Patrol said the driver of the pickup has been identified as a Salt Lake resident, 62-year-old Efrain O. Cardenas.

The wreckage was so severe that UHP officers had been working to verify the genders of the victims. It is believed that they are all adult males.

In addition, a 2018 Jeep Wrangler heading eastbound tried to avoid the crash and rolled into an embankment on the right-hand side of the highway, coming to rest upside down. The two female occupants there were taken to the Park City Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Highway Patrol troopers believed that impairment was a major factor in the crash since they found open containers of alcohol in the dump truck and prescription pills.

The Highway Patrol said they received a report from another driver who said the dump truck cut him off, just a couple of minutes before the crash.

The dump truck was unloaded, and is owned by a company out of Park City.

The UHP said the male driver was taken to the Heber medical center with minor injuries and was reportedly un-cooperative.

Once released from the hospital, he was booked into the Wasatch County Jail on six counts of automobile homicide, with more charges pending.

The Highway Patrol reported this was the second fatal crash on Highway 40 within 24 hours.

On Thursday night, just after 11:00 pm a passenger car heading westbound on 40, near Duchesne, suddenly drove into the opposite land and collided with a semi-truck pulling double tankers.

The semi stopped after a short distance and burst into flames, while the trailers were undamaged.

The driver of the passenger car was killed, identified as a 21-year-old man from Boca Raton, Florida. A passenger was taken to Uintah Basin Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, and the driver of the semi was not badly injured.

Known for getting all the facts right, as well as his distinctive sign-off, Rick covered Summit County meetings and issues for 35 years on KPCW. He now heads the Friday Film Review team.
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