Thursday, November 28, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
One dead, four highway workers hurt in I-80 crash
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ELKO -- One person was killed and four highway construction workers injured Wednesday in a wreck on Interstate 80 about 50 miles west of Elko.
Three of the workers for the Nevada Department of Transportation were seriously injured and were airlifted to hospitals in Reno and Boise.
The crash occurred shortly after 11 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-80 about 30 miles east of Battle Mountain, Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Rocky Gonzalez said.
A van drifted into the marked construction zone, ran through the orange cones and slammed into a heavy equipment loader, he said.
The driver of the van was killed. The driver of the loader and three other workers on the ground were injured.
A preliminary review indicated the accident was a result of driver inattention, Gonzalez said.
The injured were initially transported to a hospital in Battle Mountain.
But two later were airlifted to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, where one was in serious condition and one was critical, Washoe Medical spokeswoman Judy Davis said.
There was no immediate word on the condition of the other two, including one who was airlifted to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
The Transportation Department was withholding names pending notification of relatives.
