SEATTLE, WA — A 36-year-old Mill Creek woman was arrested after a pair of crashes early Monday in Seattle that injured seven people, including two teenagers, reports KOMO News.
The events unfolded on the southbound side of Interstate 5, just south of Mercer Street, in the city’s South Lake Union area. It was first reported by Washington State Department of Transportation at about 5:15 a.m.
Washington State Patrol officials say the woman was driving a Hyundai Veloster northbound on the southbound highway, though it was not immediately clear whether the female driver entered the lanes from the wrong direction or her vehicle had made a U-turn. At one point, the Hyundai hit a Toyota Highlander head-on, which was then struck by a semi-truck.
The Seattle Fire Department confirmed that a total of seven people received treatment. Six patients from the Highlander, all residents of Colorado, were transported to Harborview Medical Center for unspecified injuries and were all last listed in stable condition. They include the 61-year-old male driver, two women ages 52 and 22, a 19-year-old man, and a 15-year-old boy. Authorities noted all patients were wearing seat belts at the time of the wreck.
The semi-truck driver, a 68-year-old man, was evaluated by first responders at the scene but was determined to not require medical transport.
It was unclear whether the wrong-way driver was seriously hurt, but she was arrested at the scene and faces charges of “DUI” and “vehicular assault.”
A section of southbound I-5 was shut down for over five hours during the response and investigation but reopened shortly before 10:00 a.m.
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